


Bad Seeds

by nightbirdssidekick



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Bad Boys, Dalton Academy, Dalton Academy Warblers, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Hate to Love, Homophobia, Humor, M/M, Smut, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:34:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 76,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightbirdssidekick/pseuds/nightbirdssidekick
Summary: Blaine’s life unravels after he is severely beaten up for going to a school dance with another boy. A transfer to Dalton Academy is supposed to help him get back on the right path. Blaine finds a friend in his roommate Nick and a purpose as the latest star of the Dalton Warblers, but his new life in Westerville is far from trouble-free. He soon has to find out that envy and feuds are common in the world of show choirs. The trauma of the hate crime and his differences with his father, a cold-blooded politician, keep haunting him as well.But Blaine’s biggest problem is Sebastian Smythe, the son of one of Lima’s richest families. Known for being narcissistic and promiscuous, he is the opposite of what Blaine is looking for in a boy. Yet, before Blaine knows it, his life at Dalton revolves around the one person who seems to be set on leading him even further astray.A Dalton story about what could have happened if Sebastian had been there all along.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Comments: 114
Kudos: 91





	1. Collision

**Author's Note:**

> Please check the tags before reading.
> 
> This story is like an eggplant. At the beginning, it pretends to be dark, only to hide its mushiness. It may also be just as kinky.
> 
> I'll do my best to post a new chapter every weekend. Feel free to let me know what you think!

Blood. Everywhere. On the sidewalk, on his suit, on Aiden’s face. He could taste it in his mouth. He had bitten his tongue when the fist had hit his jaw for the first time. It hadn’t even hurt when it happened, only much later when the shock had faded a bit. It had never faded completely. It was still with him every day and every night, especially at night. He had relived it so many times.

“Blaine!”

His mother’s voice and a loud knocking on the door made his eyes fly open. There was no blood. He was in his room, in his bed, where nothing could harm him. Still, he was soaked in cold sweat.

“Blaine, honey! You have to get up, we’re going to be late!”

Blaine turned around in his bed and pulled his blanket over his aching head. He didn’t care if he was going to be late. He didn’t even want to go. It was move-in day at Dalton Academy, the all-boys boarding school Blaine’s parents were going to ship him off to.

Out of sight, out of mind. Blaine knew very well that he had been giving his parents trouble since the incident, but he still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that they were basically kicking him out for good now.

Sending Blaine away was just the thing that his father would do. After the incident, Richard Anderson had made an appointment with a shrink for Blaine, as if he had actually wanted to help him get better. During the first session, though, Blaine had realized that the “therapist” was practicing some kind of conversion therapy. He had stormed out of the office and barely exchanged a word with his father ever since.

But his mother. The fact that she agreed with the transfer was shocking to Blaine. She had been the only person he had still trusted. Now she couldn’t seem to wait until he was gone. She had tried to sell him the new school as a stepping stone to a successful career. Blaine couldn’t care less about his career. He barely had enough ambition to get out of bed in the morning.

Ever since the incident, everything had become so hard. Sleeping, eating, breathing. He’d been in incredible pain, physically at first, and then emotionally. Consequently, his body had just shut down some of the basic functions, such as feeling something. Most of the time, Blaine was feeling indifferent, just numb.

That state of mind had been bearable for a while, but at some point, he’d found out that he was still able to get a kick out of something. Stealing, for example. The first time he’d done it, the adrenaline had tickled every cell of his body. He’d felt alive again. Slashing car tires wasn’t bad either, especially the ones of his offenders’ cars. Offend. The opposite of defend. Defend, that’s what Blaine should have done. He should have defended Aiden.

“Blaine, come on!” His mother sounded impatient now, a little annoyed and disappointed. Blaine hated hearing that tone in her voice, he just couldn’t bear it. For the longest time, he’d tried to make her the proudest and happiest mom. Even now that Blaine knew that he couldn’t trust her anymore, this tone still made him cave every single time.

“Okay, I’m coming,” he finally answered with a rough, sleepy voice. He kicked the blanket off himself and stayed in bed for another minute, the last minute in his own bed. It wasn’t a good place. His sheets were cold and soaked in sweat as so often. He’d had too many nightmares in this bed and he wondered if they would follow him to his new bed at Dalton Academy.

Blaine somehow managed to gather up enough energy to heave himself out of his bed. There was probably no time for a shower, but the night sweats had been so intense again that he just had to take a quick one.

After the shower, a huge towel wrapped around his waist, he went back to his room where his mother had laid out grey pants and a white dress shirt on his bed. His sweaty sheets had already vanished.

“Fuck this,” he groaned and yelled, “Mom! I’m not gonna wear this! It’s just move-in day, there’s no class...”

“You already have to wear this today, sweetie.” Pam Anderson stepped through the door behind him without a warning. “Students have to wear the uniform at school at all times. The blazer is already in the car. Oh honey, look at your hair! You have to comb it before it dries. I put the hair gel in your bag, so...”

“I told you I won’t use that stuff.” Blaine rolled his eyes.

“You have to use it, honey. Your hair is just too messy without it.”

“It smells like something girls would use. Why did you have to buy strawberry or whatever that scent is?”

“It’s raspberry and it smells good. It’s for men.”

Blaine sighed in frustration. “Whatever...”

His mother left the room again, so he could get dressed. Blaine took another look around his room. There were things he would miss, such as his guitar. He had been told they had instruments at the school and he wasn’t supposed to bring his own, just like he wasn’t supposed to bring his own clothes. But there were also many things he wouldn’t miss about his room, such as the memories of the many hours he’d lain awake in his bed, trying to understand what had happened. He was hoping that he would be able to leave those behind.

There was no time left for a proper breakfast, so Blaine just gulped down a slice of toast. Richard was already waiting in the car and Pam was still running around the house, making sure that they had packed everything.

Blaine didn’t understand why his mother was making such a fuzz. “Come on, mom, relax. Westerville isn’t that far from Lima. If we forget something, you can still bring or mail it later.”

“I know, this is just very exciting and I want everything to be right,” she said with a smile that made Blaine’s heart melt. He just couldn’t be angry at her and, deep down, he knew that she didn’t just want to get rid of him.

He still wished that he was already eighteen. Then he could just decide to drop out of school instead of going to a new one. But for that, he would have to wait another six months.

When Pam was sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything, Blaine grabbed his backpack and stepped into the kitchen and the living room for one last look.

Pam was standing at the front door and smiled at him sadly. “Come on, sweetie, we have to go.” Before they both stepped out of the door, she laid one arm around him and planted a soft kiss on his hair. “I’m sure you can come visit us soon.”

They walked over to the black SUV in the driveway together where Richard was waiting impatiently. Blaine climbed on the backseat and slammed the door shut a little louder than necessary.

“Are you excited, too, Blaine?” Pam asked to lighten up the mood.

Blaine didn’t answer until his father had steered the car out of the driveway and their house had vanished behind a corner.

“What is there to be excited about? A school full of boys? Sounds awesome,” Blaine said with a sarcastic undertone. “I still don’t get how you got dad to agree to this. I guess the application you sent to the all-girls school for me was rejected.”

Going to an all-boys school was the last thing he needed. The fact that he liked boys had gotten him into trouble in the first place and boys had also been the ones who had bullied him for it.

The disappointment in Pam’s voice was back and made Blaine cringe. She turned around in the passenger seat to face him. “Honey, we’ve been through this a million times. They have a zero-tolerance bullying policy and if anybody there does something or says something wrong, they will kick him out immediately, in contrast to your old school. We want you to be safe.”

“You want me to be safe. _Dad_ wants me to be _straight_.”

Blaine met his father’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. Richard looked upset. “You know exactly that this is not true. The therapy was supposed to make your life easier. But I respect your choices.”

Blaine shook his head in frustration. “It’s not a fucking choice.”

“Rick, we talked about that, it’s not a choice,” Pam told her husband with a sigh.

“Maybe, but stealing and destroying other people’s belongings is a choice,” Richard snapped. “I’m just hoping this school will help you control your criminal tendencies.”

A bitter chuckle escaped Blaine’s lips. “Don’t worry, it probably will. I’m sure there will be enough boys to keep me busy for a while.”

“Okay, that’s it. I don’t want to hear another word from you until we’re in Westerville!” Richard commanded harshly.

Pam was close to tears. “Can you two please stop, this is a special day. It’s hard enough as it is.”

Blaine just shook his head again and looked out of the window for the next hour without saying anything else.

After a boring drive, they reached Westerville and stopped on a small parking lot across the street from a huge, old red brick mansion that reminded Blaine of buildings he’d seen on his last family vacation in London. He hadn’t thought the school would look like that and he had to admit that his first impression was actually positive.

As they walked over to the school building, Richard, who was still grumpy, was carrying Blaine’s suitcase and Pam tried to take Blaine’s hand which he quickly pulled away. He didn’t want to ruin his reputation before even stepping through the door of his new school.

The registration didn’t take long and parents were asked to say goodbye immediately after that. Somebody from the school would take the luggage to the new students’ rooms. Blaine would share his with another boy, which was something he was not looking forward to. It could only be awkward.

“So that’s it, then,” Pam said with a high voice, tears in her eyes, but she was forcing a smile. “I hope the new school year will be a lot of fun. Will you call us next weekend?”

It was one of those moments when Blaine wasn’t feeling numb, but wished he was. He was feeling sad and a little afraid. When his mother hugged him, he had to try very hard not to tear up. “Yeah, I’m gonna call you,” he promised and didn’t even look at his dad when they said their goodbyes.

Blaine was supposed to stay with a group of seven other new students who weren’t freshmen. All of them seemed pretty intimidated and nobody said a word. A few minutes later, a sturdy guy with a wide, warm smile greeted them.

“Welcome, everybody,” he said with excitement. “My name is Trent and I’m going to give you a tour of Dalton Academy today. I’m happy to see you all here. You are the transfer students and since you are a little older than the freshmen, we thought we’d set you up in a group, so you can already get to know each other a little. How about you guys introduce yourselves briefly?”

Blaine rolled his eyes and, only a second later, he wished he hadn’t. Trent had obviously seen it and gave him a friendly wink.

“Who wants to go first?” Trent asked and, thankfully, he didn’t torture Blaine by making him do it.

Blaine ended up being the last one to introduce himself. He lifted his chest and tried to look a little taller. “My name is Blaine Anderson, I’m from Lima and I’m going to repeat junior year here. Don’t ask me why.”

The other boys chuckled sheepishly. Blaine was glad the introduction was over and followed the group through the halls of the school. First, they went to a stunning spiral staircase with a beautiful dome-like glass ceiling. Most walls in the hallways and rooms were paneled with oak wood. There were oil paintings on the walls and Blaine counted an oddly high number of chandeliers.

Blaine was stunned. He had expected a private boarding school to be a little fancier than his old public high school, but he hadn’t expected that much elegance and glamour. His jaw dropped several times.

After seeing some of the classrooms, the gym, the music room and the dining hall, the new students were led to the dorms.

“I’m going to leave you with your roommates now,” Trent announced. “I wish you a wonderful first afternoon here at Dalton and a great start into the new school year. If you need anything, let me know. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions, everyone is very helpful here.”

After Trent had left, Blaine went to his room and met his roommate for the first time. He was sitting on his bed reading a book, wearing a Dalton sweater. When he noticed Blaine, he greeted him with a big, welcoming smile.

“Hi, you must be Blaine,” he said, jumped off the bed and held his hand out to shake Blaine’s. “I’m Nick. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Blaine said with a reserved smile and hated his life again. Of course, his roommate had to be a cute guy who was probably one hundred percent straight.

“So you’re a junior, right?” When Blaine nodded, Nick added, “Me too. We’ll probably have a lot of classes together. But don’t worry, you don’t have to spend twenty-four hours a day with me. We have great common rooms and you can use the gym and the music room outside of classes, too. Do you like sports or music?”

“Uhm, yeah, I like playing guitar. And piano, actually.”

“Oh, that’s great, I also play some piano. Do you sing, too?”

“Uh, not really, like, maybe under the shower,” Blaine answered hesitantly. “I mean, I used to be in a glee club at my old school, but I haven’t sung in a while.”

“Well, you should definitely come to the Warbler audition next Friday if you’re any good. Have you heard of the Warblers? I’m a proud member.”

Blaine was confused by the name. “Warblers? Like, birds?”

Nick laughed. “Yes. Well, the founders were probably inspired by birds. It’s Dalton’s glee club. It has a long tradition and if you get in, you can really be proud of yourself. We do well in show choir competitions basically every year. Last year, we made it to Nationals.”

It sounded like an ambitious undertaking and that wasn’t really anything Blaine was interested in. “Thanks, but I think I’m gonna pass.”

“Well, you can still think about it until next Friday,” Nick said with a shrug and hopped back onto his bed. “I’m gonna let you unpack your stuff now. Let me know if you need help with anything.”

Blaine took his clothes out of his suitcase and carelessly threw them into the wardrobe next to his bed. He didn’t feel like doing this properly now, he just wanted to get it done to go and check out the music room.

Ten minutes later, Blaine left his room and tried to find the way to the classrooms, but the building was huge and he got lost immediately. He remembered Trent’s advice to just ask someone because everyone was supposed to be oh so nice at Dalton, so he thought he’d just ask the next person he’d see.

Most of the hallways were empty, but when he spotted a tall, brown-haired boy walking into his direction, he decided to try his luck. Of course, it had to be another attractive guy. Blaine wasn’t sure how he was going to keep his raging hormones at bay at this school.

When the other boy was close enough, Blaine raised a hand to indicate that he wanted him to stop. “Hi, can I ask you something? I’m new here. Can you tell me how to get to the music room?” he asked with an insecure smile.

The handsome boy glared at him with a scrutinizing look. Then, a smug grin crossed his face. “Oh hello. You’re new here, interesting. I have two questions for you first. What’s your name and how about if I show you the way to my room instead?”

Blaine stared at him, completely bewildered. “Uhm... My name is Blaine Anderson... and I don’t know why I would want to go to your room...”

“You seem to like music and I’m an expert at playing the skin flute. It would be my pleasure to show you sometime. I’m Sebastian Smythe. Let me know if you want to let off some steam, hot stuff.”

Blaine’s jaw had dropped. He didn’t know what to do or say.

Sebastian seemed to enjoy the effect he was having on Blaine. “Come on, babe, I’ll show you where the music room is.”

He started to walk into the direction he had come from, but Blaine didn’t follow.

“Stop talking to me like that!” Blaine hissed when he had finally collected himself. He wasn’t going to let anyone think he was gay on the very first day at his new school. At this school, he would keep a low profile, no matter if there was a zero-tolerance bullying policy or not.

Sebastian turned around and looked at Blaine, his grin still in place. “I talk like that to everybody and I won’t make an exception for you, especially because you definitely are one of the hottest babes around here. If you have a problem with that, I’ll tell the principal that you’re a petty homophobe and you’ll be out of here faster than you can count to three.”

Blaine’s heart was racing. He didn’t understand what was going on. Was this guy actually gay or was he just putting on some sick show because he’d heard something about Blaine and the incident with Aiden? It had been in all the local newspapers. Blaine felt panic rise up inside him. Without another word, he turned around and stormed away.

When Blaine found an empty restroom, he locked himself in a stall and tried to calm down. He had no idea what to make of his encounter with the blond boy. He was so used to being bullied that he had immediately taken Sebastian’s blunt words as offense.

But what if the boy had actually tried to hit on him? How was Blaine supposed to know? Nobody had done that ever before.


	2. Lose Some, Win Some

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: The first part of this chapter describes in detail what happened the night of the dance (violence, homophobia, heartbreak).

It happened after his school’s Sadie Hawkins dance. He’d asked his best friend Aiden to go with him. Why? They were the only openly gay kids at school, not a couple, but still. Wasn’t a Sadie Hawkins dance supposed to be progressive? Not at that school.

Aiden. They’d become best friends in sophomore year after Blaine had decided to come out. Aiden had already come out and was getting bullied for it on a regular basis, but he didn’t let it get to him. Blaine admired him for his strength. He was the first person Blaine came out to and he was the one who helped him come out to his parents.

Aiden was the nicest, smartest and funniest guy Blaine had ever met. Blaine loved him as a friend, but it had been clear to him from the beginning that he wasn’t attracted to Aiden. There had been situations when Blaine wasn’t sure if the lack of attraction was mutual, but he had decided not to think about it. He didn’t want to risk losing Aiden as a friend. Aiden was Blaine’s rock. He made Blaine understand that bullies were just attention-craving, pathetic losers with serious inferiority complexes who had the mental capacity of a five-year-old.

Together, they managed to ignore the bullies, which was something they had to do because reporting them to the school hadn’t really helped. A likely reason for that was that one of them was the principal’s son. They managed to ignore the bullies so successfully that they decided to go to the dance together, which would turn out to be a major mistake.

At the dance, Blaine and Aiden got irritated looks from the girls and the nice boys. The not so nice boys called them the f word and deliberately spilled a cup of spiked punch over Aiden’s pants.

Blaine had been feeling uncomfortable all night and when the punch was thrown at Aiden, he flipped. He darted at the idiot jock who’d done it and pulled him around to confront him. He was at least a foot taller than Blaine. They almost started a fight on the dance floor. A teacher saw them and asked them to leave immediately.

Aiden called his dad to pick them up. While Blaine and Aiden were waiting outside, the jock and two of his bully friends suddenly walked up to them out of nowhere. “Thanks to you faggots I’ve been kicked out. You’re gonna pay for that!” he snarled and threw a punch in Blaine’s stomach.

Blaine went down instantly, but the jock wasn’t done yet. He pinned Blaine down to the sidewalk and punched him in face. “Don’t you ever again touch me with your homo hands!” he spat.

Blaine was so shocked, he didn’t even feel pain, but he tasted blood. He also smelled alcohol on the other guy. Again, the fist hit his jaw. Blaine desperately tried to push the jock off him, but he was just too heavy and strong.

And then Blaine realized that he was not the only one on the ground. The other two guys were whaling on Aiden.

A sudden rush of adrenaline gave Blaine the strength to squirm free of the jock’s grip. He lunged at the other two and managed to push one of them off Aiden.

“Hey! Stop it!” somebody yelled and came running from the school’s main entrance. It was the teacher who had kicked them out.

As soon as the jocks heard and saw the teacher, they ran away into the darkness they had come from.

“Hey! Stop!” The teacher yelled after them, but to no avail. When he reached the boys on the sidewalk, Blaine was kneeling over Aiden who was still lying on the ground. There was blood on the sidewalk and on the boys’ suit jackets.

“You have to call an ambulance! He’s unconscious!” Blaine yelled at the teacher in panic.

“Is he breathing?” The teacher knelt down next to Aiden.

“Yes, but they choked him!” Blaine was beside himself with worry. He still couldn’t feel any physical pain although he knew that the blood on his hands had come from his own bruised face. All he could think about was Aiden. He was unconscious, had blood all over his face and choking marks on his necks. A button from his suit jacket was lying next to him on the sidewalk.

Blaine had never been that scared. He started to sob. Aiden hadn’t deserved any of that. Blaine should have protected him. But that would probably have been physically impossible. Then they should have run. But Aiden wasn’t the kind of person who runs away from problems.

The ambulance arrived five minutes later. They boys were taken to the hospital, Aiden still unconscious, Blaine still shocked. At the hospital, Blaine got a few stitches on his cheek. Aiden got more stitches and a brain scan.

When Pam and Richard Anderson came to pick Blaine up from the hospital, Pam couldn’t hold back her tears and Richard was already on the phone with the principal to tell him that he’d sue the school.

Blaine didn’t feel the physical pain until the next morning. He thought he was dying and he was actually hoping that he was. He’d been the one who had asked Aiden to go to the dance. It was all his fault.

They put Aiden in an artificial coma for a week. Another week later, Aiden’s mother called to say that Aiden was conscious and had asked for Blaine.

Blaine, who was no longer going to school, immediately rushed to the hospital. When he stepped into Aiden’s room, he was shocked to see that his friend still had cuts and bruises in his face, but Blaine’s hadn’t healed either. Nevertheless, Blaine was overcome by relief. Aiden was alive.

Blaine smiled at him apologetically, sat down on the chair next to the bed and took Aiden’s right hand into his. He felt a twitch in Aiden’s hand as if he’d briefly wanted to pull it away.

“I was so glad to hear that you’re awake again,” Blaine said softly and his eyes got a little moist.

Aiden still seemed to have some trouble with speaking. His voice was weak and it trembled. “Blaine... Thank you for coming. I wanted to tell you this in person.”

Blaine’s smile faltered and he felt worry rise up inside him. He had no idea what Aiden was getting at.

Aiden coughed and cleared his throat. “I’m going to transfer to another school when I get out of here. I heard you will do the same, but...” He paused briefly. “My point is that I think it’s better if we don’t see each other again.”

Blaine was completely taken aback. He stared at Aiden in terror. “Aiden... Why... But you always said that we can never let those idiots win.”

Aiden sighed. “It’s not about the bullies.” He looked at Blaine with a look so desperate, it almost broke Blaine’s heart. Aiden took a deep breath and continued. “I’m in love with you, Blaine. And look where that has gotten me. I’ve known all along that you don’t like me that way. But after this, I just can’t take it anymore. All of it. I need a fresh start.”

And that did break Blaine’s heart. Deep down, he had known it. But there was nothing he could have done about it. A million thoughts raced through his mind. He stared at Aiden for at least a minute or two before he could bring himself to say something. “I... I’m so sorry.”

A bitter smile crossed Aiden’s face. “You don’t have to be sorry. But please respect my decision.”

Blaine was overcome by desperation. This couldn’t be happening. “But I need you, I really do! Especially now...” He squeezed Aiden’s hand tighter and, this time, Aiden pulled it away.

“Do you also care about what I need? You will never be able to give me that. And I think you’ve known it all along and you chose to ignore it.” Aiden looked out of the window for a moment until he turned his gaze back to Blaine. “Don’t get me wrong, our friendship meant everything to me and, obviously, I’m the one who is ruining it now. And I’m sorry. But I’ve made my decision and we’ll have to deal with it. I’m really sorry.” Pain was written all over Aiden’s face and it wasn’t because of the bruises. “Goodbye, Blaine.”

Blaine shot up from his chair. His head was spinning, his pulse racing. He stared at Aiden in disbelief. Blaine wanted to tell him how selfish he was, but that would have made everything worse. He also realized that he’d been selfish, too, by ignoring his friend’s feelings. Aiden had made a decision.

“G... goodbye,” Blaine stammered with a broken voice, turned around and stormed out of the hospital. He had lost the one person who could have helped him recover.

* * *

“Blaine! Wake up!”

When Blaine opened his eyes, he was in an unfamiliar room. He was breathing heavily, covered in sweat and his heart was pounding.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Blaine's head shot around. Nick was kneeling next to his bed. He looked worried.

“You were tossing and turning and you sounded like you were in pain. It was pretty scary. Are you okay now?”

“Ugh... Yeah... I had a nightmare,” Blaine groaned and tried to piece everything together. He was in his new bed at Dalton Academy and he had woken up his new roommate because of his stupid nightmares that apparently hadn’t stayed in Lima. “What time is it?”

“It’s five, almost too late to go back to bed. Also, you look like you need a distraction. Have you seen the video of that beaver eating cabbage? It’s hilarious.”

Blaine blinked sleepily, trying to make sense of what Nick had just said. “What...? No, I think I haven’t... But I guess I can’t go back to sleep now anyways.” Blaine felt sorry for waking Nick up and he was surprised that his roommate wasn’t mad. Instead, Nick even tried to cheer him up. His kindness made Blaine feel even more sorry, especially because he had given Nick the cold shoulder the day before.

They spent the next hour sitting on Nick’s bed watching videos on his phone. Nick had been right, the beaver was hilarious and Blaine was thankful for the silly distraction.

Nick also told him more about Dalton, the Warblers and about some of the students Blaine would get to know soon.

All of sudden, Blaine remembered his encounter with Sebastian the day before. The nightmare and the beaver had temporarily eradicated this memory, although Blaine had mulled over it a lot before falling asleep. He had a feeling that Nick might know Sebastian and be able to tell him more about him.

“Yesterday, I met this guy called Sebastian...” Blaine said as casual as possible, carefully observing Nick’s reaction.

Nick interrupted him with a laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry you had to meet him on your first day. He’s quite the character. I bet he paid you a compliment,” Nick said with a wink.

“Uh, yeah...” Blaine wasn’t sure if he was going too far, but somehow he felt safe with Nick, so he dared ask, “Is he gay?”

“Yes, he is and he hits on every guy he finds attractive, no matter if gay or straight. But don’t worry, he just likes to fool around. You should just be flattered and not think about it too much. He will leave you alone once he realizes that you’re not interested.” Nick looked at Blaine with a inquisitive smile. “That is, _if_ you’re not interested.”

Blaine averted his eyes and felt his pulse speed up. Did he really want to be back in the closet? At some point, when he’d still been friends with Aiden, he’d sworn to himself that he would never again pretend to be something he was not.

Nick seemed to know how to interpret Blaine’s silence. “Okay, in that case, maybe I should warn you. He’s known to be a heartbreaker.”

Blaine looked back at Nick with an embarrassed grin. “It’s not like that. I mean, I’m not gonna fall for him or anything. What’s more important, are you cool with it? With me being...”

Nick smiled at Blaine, obviously amused. “Why wouldn’t I? You make it sound like you’ve had problems because of it before. Trust me, you’ve come to the right school. Except for Sebastian, you have nothing to be afraid of. There are a few other gay guys here who are not relentless predators. Maybe you should stick to them.”

Nick’s words made Blaine feel a thousand pounds lighter. He was profoundly relieved to hear that Dalton Academy was a safe place and that Nick didn’t have a problem with having a gay roommate. Blaine had a feeling that they might become friends. He really needed one.

And as for Sebastian, Blaine didn’t think he had a reason to be afraid of him. Now that he knew that Sebastian had actually tried to hit on him, Blaine was feeling intrigued.

He was feeling _alive_.


	3. Joyride

Before breakfast, Blaine took a shower and spent at least ten minutes in front of the mirror trying to decide whether he should use hair gel or not. Admittedly, his curls looked a bit messy, but he liked them that way. They were short at the back and a little longer on top, falling into his face. Finally, he decided not to use the gel because the school uniform already made him look way too preppy for his taste.

The day before, Blaine had joined the other transfer students at their table during lunch and he had skipped dinner after the encounter with Sebastian had stirred him up too much. This morning, Nick asked his new roommate to join him and his friends for breakfast. Blaine hadn’t been very social ever since the night of the dance and, although Nick’s buddies seemed nice, he didn’t like that they made him the center of attention and asked him way too many questions. Most of them were Warblers. Blaine still couldn’t wrap his head around the bird thing.

The first day of classes went surprisingly well. Since Blaine was repeating the year, he was already familiar with what the teachers were talking about. He didn’t pay much attention to them, but the fact that he had already heard everything before wasn’t the only reason for that. It turned out that Sebastian was a junior, too, and he shared most of his classes.

Every time they had to go to a new classroom, Blaine picked a seat in the back row and Sebastian conveniently chose to sit right next to him. Whenever Blaine turned his head slightly to sneak a look at the other boy, Sebastian was already grinning at him. Blaine tried hard to keep a straight face because he didn’t want Sebastian to think that he had any effect on him.

The truth was that Sebastian had even quite a variety of effects on him. On the one hand, Blaine was appalled by Sebastian’s exaggerated self-confidence and that’s why he had decided to give him the cold shoulder. On the other hand, Blaine felt undeniably drawn to him.

It wasn’t just because his attention was flattering. There was something dangerous and enthralling about Sebastian. Every time their eyes met, Blaine got the same thrill out of it that he felt when he was doing something illegal. Sebastian made him feel excited after months of apathy. It was like seeing a blotch of color in a world of black and white.

But despite his interest in him, Blaine hurried out of the room after each class, so Sebastian didn’t have a chance to approach him. He still wasn’t sure how to react to his blunt advances. He’d hated the condescending and disrespectful way Sebastian had talked to him the day before. As if Blaine was some floozie.

He succeeded in avoiding Sebastian for the rest of the day, but that success wouldn’t last very long.

On the second day of classes, Blaine already managed to get detention. The PE teacher Mr. Petersen, who was also the coach of the football team, was curious about the new kids’ football skills and wanted to see them play. Blaine tried to avoid the ball as much as he could, but at some point, Nick passed it to him. Immediately, several guys lunged at Blaine.

In an instant, the horror of the night of the dance was back. Overcome by panic, Blaine started to throw punches and accidentally hit Jeff, one of Nick’s friends, in the face. Jeff went down to the ground, but, luckily, he got off lightly with a bleeding lip.

Mr. Petersen, who was sure that Blaine had punched Jeff deliberately, sent him straight to the principal. On the way to her office, Blaine couldn’t decide if he should be afraid or defiant. During the welcome speech on the day of his arrival, the principal had seemed nice, but what if she decided to notify his parents about the incident? It would be unfair, he hadn’t meant to hurt anyone.

Principal Lee received him with a worried smile and asked him to take a seat. Blaine stubbornly kept his eyes on the floor, even when she started to talk to him.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Mrs. Lee said. “We know about your criminal activities during the past months, but we still decided to give you a chance to show your true potential at Dalton. Your parents believe in you and so do we.”

Blaine didn’t show any reaction, just kept staring at the ground. Deep down, he was feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

“We also know about what happened to you and we want to help you. We have a great school psychologist and I think it would be so good for you if you talked to him, maybe once a week. Would that be okay for you?”

Blaine shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care, but the fact that _they_ knew so much about him made him feel more anxious by the minute.

“Well, think about it, please. However, what happened in PE class today was unacceptable. Mr. Petersen said it looked like a vicious attack against the other student. Do you have anything to say about it? Blaine, look at me, please.”

Begrudgingly, Blaine looked up at her and shook his head.

Mrs. Lee sighed. “Fine. But in this case, I will have to give you detention. We want this school to be a safe place for every student, for you and for everybody else. We don’t tolerate aggressive behavior towards other students. This is serious, Blaine. It cannot happen again, do you understand me?”

Blaine averted his eyes again and nodded.

“I expect you to apologize to Jeff and to be in Mr. Hanley’s classroom at 5 o’clock.”

When Blaine left Principal Lee’s office, it was 4:30 p.m. He only had time to quickly change out of his gym clothes and then he already had to go and look for the room because he wasn’t sure where it was.

Blaine found the room at 5:05 p.m. He was feeling queasy when he put his hand on the door knob. Being late for detention was never a good thing. When he stepped into the room, he went straight to the teacher to apologize and explain that he was new to the school.

“It’s okay, new kid. Just have a seat and write your essay about why you shouldn’t have done whatever it is you did,” Mr. Hanley mumbled from behind his newspaper without even looking up. The white-haired man was probably in his sixties, had a mighty mustache and was wearing a quirky, checkered, brown suit. Judging from the notes and dates on the chalkboard behind him, Blaine figured that he was the history teacher.

Relieved that he wasn’t in trouble for being late, Blaine turned around to choose a desk. It wasn’t until then that he realized he wasn’t the only student in the room.

Sebastian greeted him with a provocative smirk. For a second, Blaine was taken by surprise, but then again, he wasn’t surprised at all to see him. Sebastian seemed to be exactly the kind of student who would get detention on the second day of a new school year.

Blaine walked over to a desk on the other side of the room, as far away from Sebastian as possible. He took out a pen and paper and tried to come up with ideas for his essay, but, just like in class, Blaine couldn’t keep himself from sneaking looks at Sebastian, who seemed to be grinning at him nonstop.

Sebastian didn’t show any interest in writing his essay. He had even turned around on his chair, so he could observe Blaine better. It was terribly distracting and Blaine wasn’t able to think clearly, let alone write an essay.

Mr. Hanley didn’t seem to care what the boys were doing. He just kept reading his newspaper and didn’t notice that Sebastian had started to throw crumpled-up notes at Blaine. At first, Blaine ignored them, but, eventually, his curiosity got the best of him. He shot Sebastian an annoyed look and picked up one of the notes off the floor next to his chair.

_Wanna go on a joyride tonight?_

Blaine tore up the note and rolled his eyes at Sebastian. Just more dumb pickup lines.

Sebastian nodded his head towards Mr. Hanley. Blaine didn’t know what to make of that. Only when Sebastian pointed at Mr. Hanley’s bag on the floor, Blaine understood what he meant. A key chain with the logo of some car brand was dangling out of a side pocket of the teacher’s bag.

A minute later, Mr. Hanley announced that he was going to get a cup of coffee and told the boys to keep writing. The second he had left the room, Sebastian walked over to Blaine’s desk and sat down on it.

“5:30, time for Mr. Hanley’s coffee, as always.” Sebastian grinned down at Blaine. “So babe, are you in? I could show you around town. Or we could go to Columbus, have dinner elsewhere. My treat.”

Blaine frowned and tried to keep his cool. “Do I understand correctly that you want to steal his car key?”

“It wouldn’t be stealing, just borrowing. Also, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Blaine was getting excited, but he couldn’t believe that Sebastian was being serious. “I bet he would notice that the key is missing right away. How is he supposed to get home?”

“How stupid do you think I am?” Sebastian chuckled. “That old fart is one of the teachers who live here. He uses his car twice a week and definitely not on Tuesdays. Who knows why he carries that key around all day.”

Sebastian hopped off the desk and walked over to Mr. Hanley’s bag to grab the key. He returned to Blaine and threw it on his desk. “So you’re down?”

Blaine was torn. Once again, he didn’t know how to react. He didn’t want to appear weak by giving in to Sebastian, but stealing a teacher’s car with him was a prospect so intriguing that his pulse had started to race.

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine saw the classroom door open. He quickly grabbed the car key and pulled it off the table a split second before Mr. Hanley entered the room. Blaine slid the key into the pocket of his jacket.

“Sebastian, please, sit down and write,” Mr. Hanley mumbled and vanished behind his newspaper again.

Blaine’s heart was pounding. The thrill was indescribable. When he looked over at Sebastian, who had taken a seat at his desk again, Blaine couldn’t even keep himself from smiling at him. Sebastian looked more confident than ever. He was probably thinking that he had Blaine hooked already, which wasn’t even that far from the truth.

Detention was almost over and Blaine hadn’t written more than three sentences. With the key in his pocket, it was even harder to concentrate, but he forced himself to scribble some more sentences and hoped that nobody would ever read them.

When Mr. Hanley let them go, the boys quickly packed up and left the room. Outside in the hallway, Sebastian grabbed Blaine’s arm and whispered into his ear, “Meet me at eight behind the gym. Put on some regular clothes underneath the uniform, so people downtown won’t know where we’re from. This is the only time I’ll ever ask you to put on more clothes rather than less.” Sebastian was so close, his lips were almost touching Blaine’s skin. “Can’t wait until you take them off for me...”

Blaine pulled his arm from Sebastian’s grip. “If you keep talking to me like that, I won’t come,” he hissed.

“Don’t be such a sissy,” Sebastian said with a smirk. “Eight. Don’t be late again. Ask someone for the way if you don’t find it and, just so you know, it doesn’t help if you run from them when they want to show it to you.”

“Ugh, fuck off,” Blaine snapped and hurried away from Sebastian. He hated whatever was going on with him. Sebastian had just given him a boner with his dirty talk. How was it possible to be so turned on and disgusted by someone at the same time?

Blaine skipped dinner again, not only because Sebastian had suggested they could grab something to eat elsewhere. He also wanted to avoid Jeff. Blaine knew he had to apologize, but he also knew that it would be completely embarrassing. He couldn’t tell Jeff the true reason why he had punched him because he didn’t want to admit that PTSD had made him a nervous wreck. Somehow, he would have to come up with a better explanation.

It was slowly getting dark when Blaine walked over to the gym. He took the car key out of his pocket and played with it in his hand. Here he was, on the second day of classes at his new school, about to steal a teacher’s car with a guy who had the potential to drive him crazy.

Sebastian appeared only a few minutes later. He had a conspiratorial smile on his face and held his hand out for the key. Admittedly, Blaine was glad to get rid of it.

He followed Sebastian to the parking lot. Mr. Hanley’s car was a silver sedan. It was obvious that this wasn’t the first time Sebastian had stolen the key. He made himself comfortable on the driver’s seat as if it was his car. After starting the engine and steering the car out of the parking lot, Sebastian hit the gas and raced away from the school.

“We’re free, baby!” Sebastian turned on the radio and seemed to know exactly which button to push for his favorite station. “So where do you want to go? Columbus? Home? Where are you from, by the way?” Sebastian was driving way above the speed limit and Blaine wondered if he even had a license.

“Lima,” Blaine responded briefly. He had decided that he didn’t want to give too much away in front of Sebastian. Especially not that he felt attracted to him.

“You gotta be kidding!” Sebastian laughed. “So am I. How come I’ve never seen you before? Ever been to Scandals?”

Blaine couldn’t believe his ears. Sebastian was from Lima, too? If that was supposed to be some kind of joke, it was a bad one. “Scandals? No, what’s that?”

“Best gay bar in town.”

Blaine realized that he had been asked a trick question. Sebastian was fishing for clues to his sexuality. “Why would I go to a gay bar?”

Sebastian gave him a knowing smile, but didn’t say anything further for a minute or two. “I’m hungry. Feel like burgers?” he asked eventually, rubbing his stomach.

The boys ended up at a fancy burger joint in downtown Columbus. They’d taken off their school uniform before getting out of the car and, of course, Sebastian had made another dirty comment, but Blaine had managed to stay cool for a change.

He was still glad when they entered the crowded restaurant and he was no longer alone with Sebastian. Sipping on his coke, Blaine was finally able to relax and they even engaged in an actual conversation.

“So where in Lima does your family live?” Blaine asked and took a bite of his burger.

“Actually, my family lives a little outside of Lima. We have a ranch. Well, we also own a golf course and a hotel next to it. But I used to be kind of a nature boy when I grew up.”

Blaine was surprised to hear that. “What kind of a ranch?”

“Mainly horses,” Sebastian said, amused. “You look like you didn’t expect that. Yeah, I used to ride horses. That’s obviously what turned me gay,” he joked and took a sip of his drink. When he set down the glass, his typical smirk was back. “Now I ride guys.”

Blaine looked down at his plate, unable to suppress a sheepish smile. He hated himself for it.

“What did you do back in Lima?” Sebastian asked.

“Uhm... Nothing really. I guess I’m pretty boring.”

“Oh come on. You look anything but boring to me. Seems like you’re quite the bad boy, stealing car keys and hitting people. That was a nice punch, by the way. Is that why you were kicked out of your old school?”

“I wasn’t kicked out... Well, yeah. Kind of.”

“I like bad boys.” Sebastian smiled at him with that incredible self-confidence again. “You’re really hot, you know.”

Blaine wondered what would happen if Sebastian met the bullies at his old school. He would probably find a way to utterly destroy them. In a way, Blaine admired him. Sebastian was probably stronger than Aiden. At least, he was certainly more determined than Aiden to actively pursue Blaine – which reminded Blaine that he had to find a way to keep Sebastian at bay.

He took a deep breath and tried to stay composed. “Look, I’m flattered, but I think you should stop doing that.”

“Stop what? Boosting your self-confidence? Most people like that.” Sebastian shrugged his shoulders.

Blaine sighed and looked down at his plate again. “Okay, forget it.”

They spent the next few minutes in silence and finished their burgers.

After paying the check, Sebastian gave Blaine a scrutinizing look. “You’re a tough nut to crack, Anderson. That spurs me on even more. I’m gonna figure you out, wait for it.”

“I don’t think so,” Blaine countered. Sebastian’s bluntness was stressing him out again. “Anyways, the burger was awesome. Thanks for the treat.”

“Anything for you, hon,” Sebastian said with an unfamiliar smile on his face. It wasn’t as condescending as before and almost affectionate. It made Blaine’s heart jump a little and, for some reason, it actually made him feel good.

After dinner, they drove around the city for another hour and returned the car unseen.

“What are you going to do with the key?” Blaine asked.

“I have history class tomorrow. It will be easy to slip it back into the bag. I bet he won’t notice it was gone. He never does.”

They snuck back into the school building and managed to get to the dorms without meeting anyone. It was almost midnight. Sebastian followed Blaine all the way to the door of his room.

“Thanks for the ride. And for dinner,” Blaine said as casually as possible.

“My pleasure, babe...” Without a warning, Sebastian lifted his right hand and ran it gently through Blaine’s curls. His hand stopped on Blaine’s cheek and stayed there for a few seconds.

Blaine froze. His instincts told him to get away from Sebastian immediately, but something inside him yearned for his touch. All of a sudden, Blaine was feeling very hot.

The expression on Sebastian’s face was undecipherable. When he removed his hand, he seemed to be satisfied with Blaine’s reaction and his smirk returned. Without saying goodnight, he turned around and left Blaine standing there, paralyzed.


	4. New Birds In The Flock

Very slowly and quietly, Blaine opened the door to his dark room. He snuck inside, tiptoed to his bed, took off his clothes except for his boxers, lay down and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He could hear Nick breathe in the other bed. His roommate was fast asleep.

Several minutes passed before Blaine was able to sort of think clearly again. Obviously, Sebastian had figured out that Blaine wasn’t going for his cheap pickup lines and had tried a softer, more sentimental approach – and Blaine had actually fallen for it.

He tried to focus. What was going on? He was attracted to a guy. Was that a first? No, but it was definitely the first time that he was into a guy who wasn’t straight and who was interested in him as well. Why was Blaine into him? He was exciting, probably bad news, and undeniably hot. Blaine pictured him in the tight white t-shirt he’d worn at the restaurant. And with the smile. That smile. Maybe it wasn’t all that smug, admittedly, it was kind of seductive.

Blaine recalled Nick’s warning. _He’s known to be a heartbreaker_. Not a problem, Blaine thought. Sebastian hadn’t gotten to his heart. But he had certainly gotten to his dick. Blaine had a boner again and, for the first time, he realized what the worst part about sharing a room was. Frustrated, he thought about how cruel it was to deprive a seventeen-year-old boy of his privacy. He didn’t dare touch himself while his roommate was lying in the other bed. The fact that Nick knew he was gay somehow made it even weirder.

Blaine knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep like that. He snuck out of the room again and scurried into the bathroom. At least, they had private showers and Blaine was able to release his sexual tension under the hot water. Afterwards, his head felt blissfully empty and, back in bed, he immediately drifted into a dreamless sleep.

In the morning, Blaine woke up when the alarm on Nick’s phone went off. He pulled the blanket over his face, wishing that he could just go back to sleep. He hadn’t slept that well in quite a while.

Blaine heard Nick get up and walk over to his wardrobe. He hadn’t talked to him since PE class the day before, which wasn’t so good because, by now, he was probably thinking that Blaine was a psycho. Reluctantly, Blaine sat up in his bed and mumbled, “Good morning.”

Nick turned around to face his roommate and replied somewhat coldly, “Good morning. I thought you had run off after PE.”

“Uhm, no. I had detention and then I didn’t feel like dinner,” Blaine explained in a low voice.

“Principal Lee asked for you at dinner. I said you weren’t feeling well and had gone to sleep early.”

“Oh. Thanks, man.” Blaine was feeling terrible. “Look, I’m really sorry for punching Jeff. It was an accident. I’m gonna apologize to him at breakfast.”

Nick gave him a skeptical look. “It didn’t really look like an accident. But since you don’t have any reason to punch anyone here on purpose, I’m gonna give you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Thank you,” Blaine said with a sheepish smile. He was relieved to see Nick smile back at him. Maybe he still had a chance at becoming friends with him.

At breakfast, it turned out that Jeff wasn’t resentful at all, so the day started pretty well. Sebastian played his usual game at class, but Blaine had decided not to play along and tried to pay attention to the teachers instead.

After classes, Blaine made another attempt at finding the music room. He already knew the school a little better and, this time, he didn’t have any trouble. Luckily, nobody else was there and he had the room to himself. Like most of the other rooms, it was paneled with oak wood and looked utterly elegant.

Blaine marveled at the various instruments that were mainly stored in glass cabinets. There were violins, cellos, saxophones, guitars, flutes, and many more. In the middle of the room, there was a beautiful grand piano that Blaine was drawn to immediately. It was much nicer than the one his parents owned.

He sat down on the piano stool and played a few notes. They sounded flawless. Blaine started to play some pieces he had memorized. During the past few months, making music had been the only thing that had given him some kind of pleasure and he was glad to see that Dalton’s music room was so well-equipped.

Lately, one of Blaine’s favorite songs had been _Chandelier_ by Sia. He had learned to play the song a while ago and he knew the lyrics by heart, so he started to play it, and not just that, he also started to sing.

He sang like he hadn’t sung since his last glee club meeting before dropping out of school following the assault. He sang with his whole heart. It was one of those songs that reflected most of the few sensations he’d had during the past months. Pain, agony, an urge to self-destruct, but also a desperate will to survive.

When Blaine had finished the song, he looked at the keys in front of him and smiled. Music still had the potential to make him happy, somehow, because it was the only way for him to express what he really felt.

All of a sudden, the sound of hands clapping disturbed the silence. Startled, Blaine shot around and saw that another student had entered the music room. With a wide smile on his face, he was walking towards Blaine, still clapping his hands.

Blaine was horrified. He’d thought that he was alone, otherwise he would have never started to play.

“Wow, that was truly incredible! Who are you and what label are you signed to?” the other student asked enthusiastically. He looked pretty mature, probably a senior.

Embarrassed, Blaine jumped up from the piano stool. “Uhm, I’m not signed to... I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were there.”

“Well, I have to admit, I feel a little bad for sneaking up on you like that, but I’m glad I did. That was a spectacular performance. I’m Wes, nice to meet you.”

Wes held his hand out and Blaine hesitated for a second before shaking it. “I’m Blaine. Nice to meet you, too.”

“I know for a fact that you’re new here, otherwise I would have heard of you before. It’s great to see that we got such a great addition to the school,” Wes gushed. He seemed very excited, which was quite intimidating to Blaine. “I’m a council member of the Warblers and I would like to cordially invite you to our audition this Friday. We’re only going to admit two new members this year, but don’t you worry, just sing this song again and you will become a Warbler. Not only that, I guarantee you that you will get a solo at Sectionals. That performance was absolutely fantastic!”

Blaine blushed and shook his head. “Uh, no, I’ve already heard of that and I don’t think it’s for me.”

Wes got more serious. “Blaine. You are exactly what we need. Last year, Vocal Adrenaline kicked us out of Regionals. I still haven’t gotten over it. This year, Nationals will be in San Francisco and I’m determined to go there. With somebody like you, we will definitely make it, I have no doubt.”

“No, I’m not really into competitions...”

“ _Blaine_. Who is your roommate?”

“Uhm... Nick.”

“Oh, another Warbler, perfect. I will tell Nick to bring you on Friday. Again, what I heard was a perfect performance and you don’t have to worry about Friday. If you sing anything like that again, everybody will love you. Have a good evening and see you on Friday.” Wes gave Blaine another reassuring smile and left the music room.

Blaine was feeling desperate. Auditioning for the Warblers, let alone singing a solo at some competition was the last thing he needed. But he had no choice. If Wes told Nick to bring him, Blaine would have to go because, after the embarrassing nightmare situation and punching Jeff, he didn’t want to put Nick off again.

It was only Wednesday, so Blaine decided not to think about the audition again until Friday. He would go and if it was just to have a look at the _Warblers_ , whatever they were. Admittedly, he was a little curious.

* * *

“Are you ready?” Nick had a friendly, encouraging smile on his face that couldn’t even be crushed by Blaine’s frown.

“You know, I think I’m just gonna stay here.” Blaine was sitting on his bed feeling anxious. During the past two days, he’d changed his mind about going to the Warbler audition several times. His plan not to think about it hadn’t worked very well.

“Come on. Wes said you may have the potential to win us Sectionals.”

Blaine gave Nick a gloomy look. “Yeah, no pressure...”

“Look, if you’re not even interested in becoming a Warbler, you have nothing to lose. Just give it a try.”

Eventually, Blaine gave in and trotted after Nick to a part of the school building that he didn’t know so well yet. There were several common rooms and Blaine had avoided those so far. They entered a large room that was furnished with several big, brown leather couches. There was a fancy fireplace and even a piano in the corner next to it. Almost twenty other students were already in the room and somebody closed the door behind Nick and Blaine. They had probably arrived late because of Blaine’s inner conflict.

The sound of a gavel made everybody go silent in an instant. The sound had come from the table in front of the fireplace. Three students were sitting there like an actual jury. One of them was Wes, still holding the gavel in his hand. Nick dragged Blaine to one of the couches and they sat down next to Trent, who smiled at Blaine like a Cheshire cat. Blaine was so anxious, he couldn’t bring himself to smile back.

“Welcome back, fellow Warblers,” Wes greeted the students. “It’s great to see all of you again. I’m confident that this year will be ours. In a few months, we’re going to San Francisco with flowers in our hair.”

The Warblers erupted in cheers and applause. When the noise had died down again, Wes turned his gaze directly at Blaine.

“I would also like to welcome the new students who have joined us today to audition. We need fourteen Warblers and we are currently twelve. That means we will admit two new students. There are seven competitors here today, so I would like to stress that, if you do not make it today, you are very welcome to come back next year. As I can see on my list, Jean-Paul, for example, has come back again this year and that’s really great. Is it your fourth audition now?” Wes looked at a student on the couch across from Blaine who nodded briefly. He was clearly embarrassed.

“You must be a senior now. Well, good luck then,” Wes said to him with a pitiful smile. “I will now announce the order in which the competitors will audition: Jean-Paul, Kevin, Rodolfo, Porter, Ming, Douglas, and Blaine. Once everybody is done, we will ask the competitors to leave the room and each Warbler will cast a vote for his favorite competitor. Any questions?”

Blaine hadn’t really been listening. At some point during Wes’s monologue, he had realized that Sebastian was sitting on one of the couches, looking visibly amused about Blaine’s presence at the audition. Why did this guy have to be _everywhere_? The fact that Sebastian wasn’t on Wes’s list of competitors meant that he was a Warbler. He hadn’t mentioned that to Blaine and now it came as a surprise – a good or a bad one, Blaine wasn’t sure.

The competitors sang one after another, some of them were awful, some were really good. When it was Blaine’s turn, his heart was pounding. He got up and walked up to Wes’s table. “Is it okay if I accompany myself on the piano?” He figured that if he was sitting at the piano in the corner of the room, he wouldn’t have to face the other students, which would make everything a lot easier.

Wes looked at the other council members next to him. They didn’t seem to mind, but three of the competitors already protested and argued that it would be unfair if Blaine was allowed to play because they could play the piano, too, and didn’t get the chance to show it.

Begrudgingly, Blaine walked over to the spot where everybody could see him and where the others had performed. At that point, he was more pissed at his competitors than nervous. All of a sudden, he was determined to show them that he was better than them even without the piano. For some reason, he was also determined to show Sebastian that he was good at something.

Admittedly, Wes’s words the other day had made him proud after they’d sunk in. With his old glee club, he hadn’t participated in competitions, but he had performed at school events and whenever he’d had a solo, people had seemed to like it.

All eyes were on him, when Blaine started to sing. He tried to do it exactly like the day Wes had walked in on him. He closed his eyes, and, somehow, he managed to almost forget that the other students were in the room. He put all the emotions that he associated with the song into his voice.

When he opened his eyes again, they rested on Sebastian for a few lines. The way Sebastian was looking at him was entirely new to Blaine. For once, his grin was gone entirely. He looked amazed, maybe even moved. The expression on Sebastian’s face was exactly what Blaine had needed. For the first time, he felt superior, ahead of Sebastian.

After Blaine’s performance, the Warblers clapped and cheered significantly louder than for the other competitors. Wes grinned as if he had already won the trophy he seemed to be so desperately after. “Gentlemen, thank you very much for your amazing performances,” he said happily, directly looking at Blaine. “I have to ask you to leave the room now, so the Warblers can cast their votes. Thank you all again.”

Blaine and the six other boys stepped outside and somebody closed the door behind them. He was feeling nervous because, even though he hated to admit it to himself, he was actually hoping that he would get enough votes to become a Warbler. He was sure that he had sung the song well, but some of the others hadn’t been bad either. Surprisingly, the audition made him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Ambition. A desire to succeed. He wanted to become a Warbler. If anyone had told him that an hour earlier, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Five minutes later, the boys were called back into the room. Wes was standing in front of the table now and smiled from ear to ear. “Welcome back, everyone. The decision has been made. It was a very interesting one, I have to say. We’ve never had a result like this before. One of our new Warblers received eleven out of twelve votes, for the second new Warbler, one vote was enough to get in.”

Blaine’s heart was racing. That didn’t sound so good. Five competitors received no votes at all. That was pretty rough. He looked at Sebastian who had a knowing smile on his face that didn’t exactly help Blaine relax.

“Our first new addition, who received one vote, is the brother of a Warbler...” Wes’s smile faltered and he gave one particular Warbler a stern look, then he turned back to the boys standing at the other end of the room. “We’re happy to welcome you, Jean-Paul Varell.”

Standing next to Blaine, Jean-Paul looked as if he had seen a ghost. He fell on his knees and, with tears in his eyes, he mumbled, “Thank you,” over and over.

Wes sighed and commented somewhat coldly, “You don’t have to thank us, it’s the result of a democratic vote. I really hope you can dance.” When Wes’s eyes met Blaine’s, his smile returned. “We were really blown away by one other competitor who won the highest number of votes anyone has ever received at a Warbler audition. I’m pretty sure that the reason for that wasn’t a weak competition.” Wes’s gaze slipped to Jean-Paul for a second, who was still weeping on the floor. He shook his head and tried to focus again. “It is my pleasure to announce that our other new member is... Blaine Anderson.”

Blaine hadn’t even processed that Wes had said his name when the other Warblers already jumped up from their couches and held their hands in front of him to congratulate him and introduce themselves.

“Thank you to all the other competitors, feel free to return next year,” Blaine heard Wes say over the noise that had erupted.

A minute later, the sound of the gavel made everyone take a seat again. The other competitors had left and the fourteen Warblers were amongst themselves. Wes was sitting behind the table again.

One of the boys next to him got up from his chair to address Blaine and Jean-Paul. “Welcome, new Warblers. I’m council member David and if you have any questions about what to expect, feel free to approach me anytime. I’m happy to help you, especially when it comes to choreography.” He turned to the other students. “Warblers, we have a tough year ahead of us, but I’m confident that we will make it to the top this time. Sectionals will be in three months already and we’ll have a lot of work to do until then. We’ll meet every Monday and Thursday at five o’clock.”

David sat down again and Wes rose to speak. “We would like to try a new approach that has become more and more popular at show choir competitions. There are going to be more solos. We know that every Warbler is talented and we want everyone to be able to show that, but we have to focus on our strengths this year and we have just won a new member who has the potential to make us stand out.” He smiled at Blaine. “The council has already decided that Blaine will sing _Chandelier_ at Sectionals. We will talk about the other songs on Tuesday.”

Blaine’s heart was pounding again. Wes had already suggested that idea the other day in the music room, but Blaine hadn’t thought Wes was actually going to convince the others, let alone that fast.

One of the other students didn’t seem too happy about the announcement. He’d shot up from the couch and stared at Wes in disbelief. “You gotta be kidding me. You give a solo to a new kid after hearing him sing for two minutes? That’s unheard of! I only had two solos last season because you said that solos weren’t _our thing_ and now you’re telling me this new guy...”

“Hunter, please calm down,” David interrupted his rant. “You are right, Blaine has to show us some more of his talent and we’re all looking forward to that. But he has proven that he can sing that song and it is a great choice for Sectionals. Maybe we’ll find one for you, too, next time. We’re done for today. Thank you, everybody. Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.”

Hunter looked furious. When everybody got up to leave, he walked over to Blaine and, with a death stare, he hissed, “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not taking over the Warblers. Not on my watch. Try it and I’m gonna crush you.”

Blaine was dumbfounded. Hunter looked like he was going to attack him physically. Panic welled up inside him.

Suddenly, Blaine felt an arm around his shoulders. “Beat it, Hunter. My homie Blaine and I have to catch up. Can you believe it, sexy? We haven’t talked in days.”

Sebastian pulled Blaine away from Hunter. He dragged him outside the room, arm still around his shoulders. In the hallway, Blaine slipped out from under it.

“Babe, you didn’t tell me that you can sing like a dream. That was quite impressive.”

Blaine had felt elated before Hunter had confronted him, but now he was feeling anxious again. He wasn’t in the mood for Sebastian’s games.

“Are you alright, hon? You don’t have to be scared of that douche. He’s afraid that you’re gonna steal the show and I’m sure your will. He’ll have to accept that. Just tell me if he causes you any trouble,” Sebastian said with a wink. “Listen, I’ve cooked up a little plan for the both of us. We’ll go on an excursion next Friday or Saturday, but I still need some time to prepare it. If you’re bored this weekend, come to my room anytime.” Sebastian gave him another seductive smile that made Blaine’s legs turn to jelly and disappeared.

Blaine briefly thought about looking for Nick, but he decided to walk back to his room alone. He needed time to think about everything that had happened in the past hour. He’d become a Warbler, gotten a solo and learned that someone named Hunter was after him because of that. And Sebastian, the guy he had been warned about, now claimed to be his protector and had come up with another shady plan that involved him somehow. Also, when Sebastian had laid his arm around him, Blaine had felt butterflies in his stomach, which had been terrifying.

It had all been too much for one day. Blaine decided to barricade himself in his room for the rest of the day, or maybe even for the entire weekend.


	5. Makeover

Blaine’s first weekend at Dalton wasn’t as bad as expected. It turned out that some students went home for the weekend, but Nick wasn’t one of them because his family lived in Illinois. Blaine had been determined to hide himself from the world for two days, binge-watch some superhero series on his laptop and read Star Wars fanfiction all day, but Nick didn’t let him.

On Saturday, he convinced Blaine to go outside, so he could show him around. Admittedly, the idea was much better than Blaine’s original plan because he knew very well that getting to know his new surroundings would help him feel more at home at Dalton. The boys left right after breakfast and walked around all day.

September had just begun, the sun was shining and the air was still warm. First, Nick showed Blaine the nearby university campus. After that, they walked all the way to the lake on the other side of the town. It was actually a reservoir, which didn’t make it any less beautiful. The water reflected the deep blue of the sky like a mirror.

On their way back to the town center, they crossed several parks and Blaine was surprised to see so much green. The colors, the fresh air, the walk and Nick’s company made him feel serene. He wished he could bottle up some of the ease and peace of mind for worse days.

Westerville was almost the same size as Lima, but it had a more bourgeois feel to it. The streets were lined with neat front yards and buildings that looked as flawless as dollhouses. Compared to the rest of the town, Dalton Academy wasn’t even particularly posh. The school just fit right in.

After walking around the town center, they went to Mitchell’s Café, also known as Mitch’s, the Dalton students’ favorite hangout. They ordered their drinks and sat down at a table next to the window where they could observe the main street.

“So, how was your first week at Dalton?” Nick asked with a curious smile on his face. They hadn’t talked about school at all during the hours they’d spent walking around Westerville.

“It was... good... mostly,” Blaine replied, not really sure how to evaluate everything that had happened. “There were a few things that weren’t so great, like what happened with Jeff and Hunter. But overall, it was good, I think.”

“What happened with Hunter? Did he say something to you because of the solo?”

“Yeah, right after the audition. He tried to intimidate me.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Man, that sounds just like him. His father used to be head Warbler and Hunter seems to think that he has some kind of a birthright because of that.”

“What’s a head Warbler?” Blaine still didn’t understand Warbler politics.

“The Warblers used to have a head Warbler, who is something like the captain. He got the most solos and made important decisions, especially when the other Warblers were in disagreement. Several years ago, the Warblers wanted to become more democratic and established a council, currently consisting of David, Wes and Thad. Basically, all three of them are head Warblers. It was also decided that there would be less solos during public performances because they wanted the group to demonstrate unity and equality. Apparently, that’s about to change again because other show choirs have started to let their stars sing all the songs and that approach has recently become very popular with the judges.”

“Their _stars_...” The expression made Blaine chuckle.

Nick looked serious. “It may sound funny, but that’s actually what they are. The best example for that would be Jesse St. James from Vocal Adrenaline, our biggest rival. He _is_ a star. You can ask glee club kids from California, Maine, or Alaska about him, and they’ll be able to tell you who he is. There are show choir blogs that are dedicated only to him.”

“Show choir blogs?” Blaine couldn’t suppress a laugh. To him, the whole show choir business sounded hilarious. The glee club at his old school had been so small and unimportant that he hadn’t heard of any stars and blogs before.

Nick smiled, but there was a hint of outrage in his voice. “Hey, that’s not funny. Most show choir members take the competition very seriously. Wes, for example. He has very high hopes in you. He seems to think that you could become our Jesse St. James.”

Embarrassed, Blaine looked down at his cup of hot chocolate on the table. “Yeah, right. After hearing me sing one song.”

“You definitely proved that you can sing. But it also depends on your attitude. If you don’t really want to be a lead, you’re not gonna be one, you know. There are several other Warblers who’d like to be in the spotlight, for example, Hunter or Sebastian.”

“Sebastian?” Blaine was surprised to hear his name in that context. “He didn’t seem mad when Wes said I’d get the solo.”

“Maybe getting into your pants is more important to him than a solo,” Nick said with an inquisitive smile on his face. “He has already achieved that, hasn’t he?”

Blaine’s jaw dropped and he started to freak out internally. Were there already rumors about them? “That’s not true! Why would you think that?” he protested, his voice sounding hysterical.

“Tuesday? I woke up when you came into the room, smelling all soapy in the middle of the night. That was pretty obvious. Why else would you take a shower that late?” Nick chuckled. “Look, I’m not judging you at all. You’re not the first guy at Dalton to go to Sebastian’s room for a good time.”

Blaine raised his hands in defense. “I swear it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t in his room. How would that even work, with his roommate and all?”

“Sebastian’s parents are so filthy rich, he has always had a single room, although those are actually meant for the seniors.”

“Okay...” Blaine tried to figure out how much he could tell Nick. He wanted to be honest with him, but he still didn’t know if he could fully trust him. “Well, I actually hung out with Sebastian that night, but _not_ in his room. We went to Columbus.”

Much to Blaine’s relief, Nick seemed to believe him. It was the truth after all, even though Blaine deliberately omitted the part of the story that involved a stolen car.

“Do you like him?” Nick asked with sincere interest.

Blaine gazed out of the window and watched the passersby while trying to decide how to answer that question. When he looked back at Nick, he still didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know. It’s weird talking about that.”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to be intrusive,” Nick said quickly with an apologetic grin. “None of my business. You know, I grew up with three sisters. They talk about stuff like that all the time.”

Blaine seized the opportunity to change the topic. “Three sisters? That’s a lot. Do they all go to boarding schools, too?”

“Gosh, no. My parents wouldn’t even be able to afford Dalton’s tuition. My dad works in landscaping and my mom is a postal worker. I’m here on a soccer scholarship. What about your family?”

Blaine frowned. “My dad is a local politician. On the wrong side of history if you ask me. I don’t get along with him. But my mom is alright. She used to be an interior designer, but now she only supports my dad with his job.”

“Don’t you have any siblings?”

Blaine sighed at the thought of Cooper. “I have a brother. He lives in L.A. and is desperately trying to become an actor. I don’t really get along with him either.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I’m sure you’ll find a few brothers from other mothers at Dalton. Most of the guys are great. Speaking of, I meant to join a practice session with my soccer pals before dinner.” Nick looked at Blaine’s empty cup. “Should we maybe head back?”

Only fifteen minutes later, they were back at Dalton and Blaine was pleased to have some time for his series and fanfiction after all.

On Sunday, Blaine called his mother and told her about his first week. Of course, Principal Lee had informed his parents about the incident in PE class, but Blaine was able to convince Pam that it had been an accident. When he mentioned that some students went home over the weekend, Pam suggested that she could come and get him the following Friday, but, surprisingly, Blaine didn’t even feel like going home yet. He did miss his mother and his room, but he was curious about Sebastian’s plan and he sincerely enjoyed spending time with Nick.

Right before the next Warbler meeting on Monday, Thad, the third council member, approached Blaine and introduced himself. Just like Wes, he seemed to think that Blaine had the potential to secure the Warblers’ victory that year. It made Blaine feel terribly uncomfortable because he didn’t have any experience with being in the spotlight and he wasn’t even sure if he would be able to keep his nerve in front of an audience of more than twenty people.

The group practiced a few harmonies and discussed the choreography for _Chandelier_. Blaine realized that he had completely underestimated the amount of dancing involved. It seemed to be a major part of the performance and it was something he hadn’t done before. The few moves they tried together were easy and Blaine even had some fun, but he was still feeling self-conscious.

At the end of the meeting, Wes made an important announcement. “Warblers, the council has come up with a suggestion for the other two songs for Sectionals. Lately, the Warblers have demonstrated a strong affinity with pop songs by female singers, so we suggest that, this time, we should stick with Sia. Yes, she is a personal favorite of mine, but that doesn’t matter here. We are looking for catchy songs with danceable beats, so she’s a great fit. We need a good dance number, which could be _Titanium_ , and the other suggestion is _Alive_. We think the songs should be sung by one lead singer with group backing vocals, of course, just like _Chandelier_.” Wes’s eyes wandered to Hunter. “In order to avoid further complaints, anyone who is interested in a solo will have the opportunity to audition during our next meeting on Thursday. We will then vote for the best performer.”

The Warblers seemed to agree with the song suggestions and left the meeting chatting excitedly. Nick and Blaine walked back to their room together.

“How do you like the new songs?” Nick asked after the door fell shut behind him. He removed his tie and threw it carelessly on his bed. “Will you audition?”

Blaine shrugged his shoulders and sat down on his bed. “I think so. I like _Alive_.” Actually, he loved it. A song about survival after going through hell – of course, he could relate. It had been one of the songs that had helped him push through. But that was something he didn’t want to share with Nick, at least, not yet. “And the other song is alright, too. Do you think I have to dance less if I get the solo?”

Nick chuckled. “Come on, your moves were pretty good. Sebastian was eye-fucking you the entire time.”

“Ugh, okay...” All of a sudden, Blaine’s face felt very hot. “Do we always have to wear the school uniforms when we practice the choreography? I imagine what we did today was nothing compared to what is yet to come, but I was already feeling so uncomfortable dancing with this stupid jacket on.”

“Sometimes, we have entire choreography sessions. You can wear gym clothes then, but usually we wear the uniform when we practice singing. At competitions, we have to wear the uniform and, yeah, it sucks pretty much because you sweat like pig. As for your previous question, the person who sings the solo usually dances a little less. So go for it. I’m not going to audition,” Nick said with a shrug.

During the next two days, Blaine spent a lot of time in the music room practicing the two songs. Finally, he was pretty confident that he would ace them.

On Thursday, it turned out that eight other Warblers wanted to compete for the solos, so the audition took up the entire session. Sebastian was one of the competitors and Blaine was impressed by his performance. He had a great voice and looked stunning. The way he moved was so natural and captivating that Blaine got completely lost his performance. It was clear to him that he had to give his vote to Sebastian.

When it was his turn, Blaine already felt more comfortable performing in front of the others than the week before. In contrast to the previous audition, they got background music to sing to, which made the performance easier for Blaine. He tried to focus on what he thought was most important about these songs, on putting all the emotions into his voice that he associated with the lyrics, even though it almost felt like he was revealing too much of himself. The other Warblers seemed to appreciate the honesty in his voice. Everyone applauded a little louder for Blaine than for the others, except for Hunter, who was staring at him angrily.

Hunter’s performance wasn’t bad either. His singing technique was close to perfect, but he clearly lacked the feeling that Blaine had been able to transmit.

Most of the other competitors butchered the high notes. Jean-Paul’s performance was a complete disaster and while he was singing, Wes kept staring at the piece of paper on the table in front of him, clearly wishing he was anywhere but in that room.

When everybody had sung both songs, discussions erupted amongst the Warblers. After a couple of minutes, Wes’s gavel silenced them again.

“Warblers, it is time for the vote. We’ll vote by show of hands. Everyone has one vote per song and you can’t vote for yourselves. _Alive_ will be first. Who wants Jean-Paul to get the solo?”

No hands were raised for him. There was one vote for Hunter and two votes for Sebastian, including Blaine’s. When Sebastian saw that he got Blaine’s vote, he grinned at him with an insinuating wink. Blaine immediately regretted his choice. Sebastian probably thought he had Blaine by the balls, which was something that Blaine vehemently refused to believe.

When Wes said Blaine’s name, ten Warblers raised their hands, including Wes, Nick, David, Trent, Thad and Sebastian. Hunter was pouting and had apparently decided not to vote at all.

The decision was clear and Wes opened the voting for the other solo. The result was similar to the first one, only that Sebastian got three votes and Blaine only nine. Still, Blaine couldn’t believe what had just happened. He’d been chosen to sing all three solos at Sectionals. The other Warblers had jumped up from their couches to congratulate him. From the corner of his eye, Blaine saw Hunter shoot him a look so full of hatred and rage, it would have killed Blaine, had they been in another kind of universe. Hunter stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

Most of the other Warblers had left when Wes stepped up to Blaine, smiling as if he’d just won the lottery. “I knew you would be perfect for us and I’m convinced we’ll win Sectionals with you. Your voice will sound amazing together with our background vocals and David already has some great ideas for the choreography.” Wes’s smile went from ecstatic to sheepish. “There’s only one thing that may need some improvement.”

Blaine was flattered by Wes’s words once again, but he was evenly confused by the sudden change of his tone. “Okay, what’s that?”

“Your hair... is a little _wild_. If you look at the other Warblers, you can see that we all have a certain style. It would be great if you could find a hairstyle that fits in a little better. I’m sure one of the Warblers can help you with that, maybe Sebastian. He has a knack for such things.”

“Okay,” Blaine mumbled and turned away from Wes. He couldn’t tell why, but he felt outraged, even offended by Wes’s request. He liked his curls the way they were and just because the Warblers had decided to be a polished bunch of prep boys, he shouldn’t have to change anything about himself, especially considering that they seemed to think that he was going to win a competition for them.

Blaine hurried out of the room with a sinister look and sinking feeling. The satisfaction he’d felt when he’d received so many votes again was gone.

“Hey, wait up!” he heard Sebastian call behind him. Blaine stopped and turned around. Sebastian seemed to be surprised to see the frown on his face when he’d caught up with him. “You don’t look like you just got a triple solo at Sectionals. What’s wrong, hon?”

Blaine still didn’t consider Sebastian a friend, but he was so pissed that he couldn’t hold back his anger. “Did you hear what Wes said about my hair? I can’t believe that he wanted me to join the Warblers because he thinks I can help to win this stupid competition and now he wants me to change for them!”

Sebastian’s surprise faded into amusement. “Wow, babe, you’re so hot when you’re going all diva on us.”

“I’m not... I just think that I shouldn’t have to change for them if they want me,” Blaine countered with a frustrated sigh. “I’m not their poodle.”

Sebastian chuckled. “You’re not a poodle. You’re a stud.” His flirtatious smile made Blaine feel a tickle in his belly despite the rage. “How about we try something together?”

Convinced that Sebastian was referring to something physical, Blaine asked warily, “What do you mean?”

“Follow me to my room.” That seemed to confirm Blaine’s suspicion.

“Uhm... No, thank you.” Deep down, Blaine wanted nothing more than that and he had to remind himself that the attractive guy in front of him was a tacky idiot.

Sebastian let out a short laugh. “Babe, I won’t do anything that you don’t want me to do. By the way, I’m talking about your hair.”

The images of Sebastian seducing him in his room vanished from Blaine’s mind in an instant. “My hair?” he asked, baffled.

“If you want me to, I can also take care of your sweet ass, but yeah, I know what to do with your hair. I’m pretty good at stuff like that. Are you coming now?”

Blaine hesitated and gave Sebastian a scrutinizing look. Finally, his curiosity won and he followed Sebastian with a pounding heart.

Nick had made it sound like Sebastian’s room was the most scandalous whorehouse in Central Ohio, but it looked completely innocent. The room was tidy and had few personal touches. The object that stood out most was a huge, framed photograph on the wall above the bed. It showed a herd of horses peacefully grazing on a wide pasture at sunrise. In the distance, there was a ranch that Blaine recognized.

“Is that where you grew up? I was there once when I was little. A friend had her birthday party there.” Once the words had slipped from his mouth, they sounded embarrassing and Blaine wished he hadn’t said them.

Surprisingly, Sebastian didn’t mock him and smiled at him with sincere warmth instead. “Oh really? I remember we used to have ponies back then and I enjoyed helping out with them. I liked those birthday parties because I got to brag about my pony knowledge to the other kids. Maybe I was there that day.”

Blaine lowered his gaze because he felt himself blush. “I remember the pony I got to sit on was called Charlie.”

“The little black one? He was naughty as hell. Definitely my favorite.” Sebastian laughed, his eyes softened with nostalgia. “What a coincidence. And now we’re here.”

Blaine looked back at Sebastian and tried not to reveal any emotions. His mind was spinning. It was so weird to think that he may have met Sebastian a long time ago, when life was still so simple and innocent. And now he was there, in Sebastian’s room.

“So come on, sit down on this chair.” Sebastian moved his desk chair into the middle to the room where Blaine was standing, turned to get a few things from his desk drawers and threw them on his bed. There was a bottle of hair gel, a towel, a comb, a spray bottle and scissors.

Blaine took off his jacket, dropped it on the bed as well and sat down on the chair. He cringed. “What’s with the scissors?”

“I’d like to shorten your hair on top a little if I may. It will make things easier with the gel. Is that okay? Babe, I know what I’m doing. If it wasn’t for my snobby family, I’d open a barber shop instead of going to college. But they’ll disinherit me if I do that.” Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and started to moisten Blaine’s hair with the spray bottle filled with water.

Blaine was skeptical. “I don’t know, I haven’t thought much about my hair. I think the curls are alright.”

“Your curls are beautiful, Blaine.” There was an unfamiliar softness in Sebastian’s voice. “But they’ll be back in a few weeks anyways. Let’s just try something new. Trust me.”

Blaine looked up into his eyes and, although he knew that Sebastian was probably the last person he should trust, he just had to. It was one of those rare moments when Blaine thought he could see the real Sebastian, the person behind the facade of smugness and dumb pickup lines. At that particular moment, Blaine would’ve probably let him do more than just cut his hair. Under the spell of Sebastian’s bright smile, he was on the verge of losing his self-control. “Okay.” It was barely a whisper.

Sebastian continued to moisten Blaine’s hair and ran the comb through his curls. Blaine closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Sebastian’s skillful fingertips on his scalp. When he heard the sound of the scissors and saw his curls fall to the ground, Blaine briefly felt some anxiety, but Sebastian’s fingers had a soothing effect on him.

Sebastian moved around Blaine, his expression serious and focused. After a few more cuts, he looked pleased with the results of his work. “Not bad. Now let’s try the gel.” Sebastian squeezed some gel out of the bottle into his hand and rubbed it between his palms. He then carefully applied the product on Blaine’s hair. It felt like a pleasant massage and Blaine closed his eyes again.

With the comb and his fingers, Sebastian coiffed Blaine’s hair for a couple of minutes. The expression on his face was still stern. Finally, his features softened into a satisfied smile. “Done. You can have a look in the mirror over there. Careful with the hair.” He brushed the cut curls off Blaine’s shoulders and back with his hands.

Blaine got up, careful not to scatter his cut hair in Sebastian’s room, and walked over to the wardrobe that had a full-length mirror on its middle door. When he saw his mirror image, Blaine was pleasantly surprised. He looked completely different and definitely as preppy as expected, but it wasn’t bad, quite the opposite. He would have never come up with this look for himself, but he had to admit that Sebastian did have a talent for styling hair.

Suddenly, Sebastian appeared behind Blaine and grabbed his shoulders. Their eyes met in the mirror. “So? Do you like it?”

“I think I can get used to it.” Blaine didn’t want to sound too enthusiastic. By voting for Sebastian, he had already flattered him enough for one day.

Sebastian didn’t need more flattery. Even without that, he was back in his player mode. “I take that as a thank you. _I_ think you look like an incredibly hot version of Clark Kent. You’re sex on a stick...”

Sebastian’s mouth moved towards Blaine’s ear and when Blaine could feel his smooth lips brushing over his skin, he pulled away from Sebastian, grabbed his jacket and stumbled towards the door.

“Well, thank you. I really like what you did. But I think I should go now.” Blaine’s pulse was racing and he held his jacket in front of his crotch to hide what had already started to happen down there.

“You want to skip the fun part? Lame,” Sebastian commented with a smirk. “Maybe next time. I wonder when you’ll stop playing hard to get. Anyways, we have a date tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up and we’ll have some fun downtown. Wear something dark.”

“Alright,” Blaine said quickly and turned the door knob behind his back. “See you tomorrow then. And thanks again for the ‘do.”

“I’ll do you anytime, babe.” Sebastian’s grin made Blaine want to punch him in the face and tear his clothes off at the same time. He ignored Sebastian’s remark and left without another word.

Luckily, Nick wasn’t there when Blaine got back to their room. He stepped in front of the mirror that was hanging on the wall next to Nick’s bed. In order to calm himself down, he carefully examined his new hairstyle. It would take some time to get used to it, but he liked that it made him look older and, somehow, also more serious. Maybe Wes was right and he would make more of an impression as a lead singer with his new look.

Blaine’s gaze wandered from his hair to his eyes. He had no trouble recognizing himself in the mirror, even with the new hairstyle. But he almost didn’t recognize himself on the inside. He didn’t understand what was going on in his head.

Sebastian had caused an inner turmoil in Blaine that made him feel like he was losing his mind. He still hated his condescension and rudeness. But the more Blaine learned about him, the less predatory and the more human he appeared. His talent for singing, dancing, and hairstyling was amazing and even the pony talk had stirred something in Blaine.

He watched himself frown in the mirror. Whatever was going on with him was cruel as hell. One day, he was feeling something good for Sebastian, the next day, he hated him. That particular day, the good feeling prevailed. _Which means that_ , _tomorrow_ , Blaine thought, _I will hate him_.


	6. Night Out

Later that night, Blaine had trouble falling asleep. He hadn’t had any nightmares in more than a week, but the reason for that was that his mind was busy dealing with the new complications in his life.

Blaine thought about Sebastian’s diva comment and had to admit that his unexpected popularity with the Warblers had probably gotten to his head. Changing his hairstyle wasn’t the end of the world and he basically only had to do it for competitions. Blaine had to admit to himself that he should be thankful for the opportunity the Warblers had offered him rather than being bitchy about Wes’s suggestion.

Although he would never say it out loud, getting the solos was a huge deal for Blaine and he didn’t know how to handle the responsibility that came long with them. On the one hand, he was feeling insecure about his new role and was afraid to disappoint everyone. On the other hand, his new-found ambition had kindled a hunger for recognition in him that he’d never felt before.

It was an intricate mix of emotions he didn’t know how to deal with, especially after having lived in a state of numbness ever since the assault. Suddenly, he cared about things again, which was confusing and exhausting.

The other issue Blaine was struggling with was, of course, Sebastian. Not only did he go back and forth between a desperate attraction and passionate loathing for him, Blaine was also scared. He was afraid of Sebastian’s ruthless advances because they made him feel and imagine things he had never experienced before. Those things were horrifying, but also terribly tempting.

When Blaine had come out at his old school, he’d wanted to be a strong, proud gay person, just like Aiden. But the bullies, they’d gotten to him. In a way, they had beaten him back into the closet. Blaine didn’t want other people to hear what Sebastian said to him, much less did he want anyone to know about his attraction for that guy. He still didn’t believe that Dalton was as safe as everybody claimed. Hunter and Sebastian were living proof that it wasn’t.

At the end of the day, there was an ugly truth that Blaine couldn’t deny as much as he tried to. Deep down, the bullies had succeeded in making him feel like what he was and what he felt was wrong and Aiden was no longer there to convince him of the opposite.

At some point, Blaine drifted off to sleep. Thankfully, he didn’t remember any dreams when he woke up on Friday morning. He didn’t need any more confusing signals and interpretations from his own ragged mind.

After getting up, Blaine decided to use his raspberry hair gel for the first time. He only used a little bit, so he wouldn’t smell like a walking scented candle all day. It took him almost twenty minutes to do what Sebastian had done in two.

Blaine was running late for breakfast, but at least he got positive feedback for his hair from the other students at his table. He looked around the dining hall and realized that he definitely fit in better now. Seemingly every student had elaborately styled hair, except for one guy with remarkably long dreadlocks. Blaine wondered how he was getting away with that look at a school like Dalton. It was pretty admirable.

Shortly before dinnertime, Blaine received a text from Nick.

N: _Fucked up my knee/ankle during soccer practice. Will stay at the hospital over the weekend. See ya soon, bro._

Blaine immediately felt terrible for Nick. That was bad news, especially for a Warbler with a soccer scholarship.

B: _Damn, that sucks. Hope you get better soon!_

At dinner, Blaine sat down next to Jeff who was telling his friends what had happened at soccer practice. Apparently, Hunter had tackled Nick like a maniac, twisting his ankle and knee so bad that Nick had screamed with tears in his eyes. Hunter got detention, but that didn’t help Nick who was afraid that the competition season was already over for him before it had even started.

Wes stopped by at their table and got close to having a heart attack when he heard the news. “God, I wish everyone would just stop playing those dangerous ball games and focus on the Warblers instead. We need twelve people to compete and now we’re down to thirteen. Maybe we should admit two more this year. What a disaster!”

“Nick wouldn’t be at this school if it wasn’t for the soccer team,” Jeff mumbled, rolling his eyes at Wes.

“It’s still a shame,” Wes sighed. “I will have to convince Principal Lee that we need scholarships for the Warblers, too.” He walked away, still shaking his head in disbelief.

After dinner, Blaine went straight back to his room. He didn’t know when Sebastian’s so-called excursion was supposed to start, so he lay down on his bed and scrolled through his phone. He realized that he would have the room to himself that weekend and thought about what he could do with his newly won privacy. There was one obvious activity, but he didn’t want Sebastian to walk in on him. On the other hand... Blaine sighed and tried to not follow that train of thought.

At ten o’clock, Blaine remembered that Sebastian had told him to wear something black, so he put on black pants and a hoodie. At eleven, Sebastian still hadn’t shown up. Blaine lay down on his bed again and stared at the ceiling. He was curious to find out what Sebastian had planned, but his body was tired. He hadn’t slept much the past night. Half an hour later, Blaine fell asleep.

At around one o’clock, the door opened and closed again without a sound. Sebastian had quietly entered the room that was still illuminated by the lamp on Blaine’s desk. He was wearing dark jeans, a black parka and carrying a brown, checkered backpack. When he saw that Blaine was asleep, an indefinable smile crossed his face. He took a few steps towards the bed and watched Blaine for a whi le. 

Blaine was sleeping in a fetal position, his face was close to the edge of the bed. Sebastian knelt down next to him and moved closer to his face. He was looking at Blaine with something like awe, seemingly fascinated by the sleeping boy.

After a couple of minutes, Sebastian awoke from his trance and suddenly leaned forward. He simultaneously pressed one hand on Blaine’s mouth and grabbed both of his wrists with the other hand.

Blaine woke up instantly, eyes wide in shock, pulse racing. He gasped for air and tried to fight Sebastian’s grip, but to no avail.

“Shhhh,” Sebastian tried to calm him down. “It’s me.”

When Blaine recognized the intruder, he stopped struggling, but as soon as Sebastian had released his hand from Blaine’s face, he started to curse. “What the fuck, man! What’s wrong with you?” He stared at Sebastian angrily. 

Blaine couldn’t believe that Sebastian had snuck into his room in the middle of the night. He had the unsettling feeling that Sebastian may have even watched him sleep for who knows how long. The thought was absolutely creepy, but Blaine couldn’t deny that it somehow turned him on as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you would come that late?” Blaine snapped.

“Most guys appreciate that I don’t _come_ early,” Sebastian replied with a smirk. “I wanted to wait until everybody is in bed, so nobody sees us. I like your outfit, killer.”

Blaine felt a particular urge well up inside him, but he didn’t want to give Sebastian the satisfaction of knowing how much the stupid things that came out of his filthy mouth turned him on. Blaine pinched his arm hard. Focusing on the pain, he tried to kill his arousal as quickly as possible.

“So a buddy of mine got me some spray paint. I thought we could walk around town a little and be creative.” Sebastian’s gaze wandered to Blaine’s arm and he chuckled. “You can stop pinching yourself. It’s really me next to your bed in the middle of the night. I know it’s a wet dream come true for you. Any other night, I would happily fulfill all your naughty fantasies, but we have other plans now. Are you ready to go?”

“Screw you,” Blaine hissed and averted his face. He needed a few seconds to collect himself. This was really happening. With a sigh, he turned back to Sebastian. “You’re fucking crazy. It’s 1 a.m. or whatever, I’m tired as hell and... ugh.”

“Come on, let’s go.” Sebastian got up and walked over to the door. “By the way, you did a good job with your hair today. See, you don’t even have to fix it after a nap. Whole new quality of life.”

Begrudgingly, Blaine got up, grabbed his phone and followed Sebastian outside. He was so pissed at him that he didn’t even want to go. But Sebastian looked so disarmingly handsome in his parka that Blaine would have followed him anywhere. He hated himself for it.

Sebastian led the way to the town center. The streets were completely empty and quiet. If Westerville had a nightlife, it was hiding very well. There weren’t even many street lights, so some corners were only lit by the almost full moon.

Blaine and Sebastian walked next to each other in silence. They both had their hoods up and looked like they were up to no good, which they were. Every now and then, Blaine heard the spray cans rattling in Sebastian’s backpack. On the one hand, he was incredibly excited about Sebastian’s plan, on the other hand, he wanted to kill him.

After they had turned a few corners, Sebastian started to point out some buildings, such as the college dorms where good times could be had, or his uncle’s house whom he hated. At that house, they stopped briefly, so Sebastian could spray a giant, purple dick on his relative’s driveway.

He handed Blaine a blue can. “Feel free to join me, he deserves it.”

Blaine took the can, but didn’t move. “There’s a camera pointed at the driveway,” he whispered.

“Who cares?” Sebastian shrugged and finished spraying a pair of balls as if he had all the time in the world.

Blaine’s heart was pounding. Sebastian was clearly insane, but this activity was something Blaine had wanted to try forever, so at their next stop, the backside of a car dealership, he shook his can and sprayed a tag he’d come up with months ago. _Nightbird_. 

“Who is Nightbird?” Sebastian asked with a curious grin.

Blaine tried to decide if the answer to that would be embarrassing or not. “I don’t know. I think it would be a cool name for a superhero or something.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Not bad. Did you come up with that after you joined the Warblers? Some guys start to become obsessed with birds after they do. Oh wait, that name was clearly inspired by that line in  _ Chandelier _ , so I guess you are one of those guys.”

Blaine just shrugged and took a new can out of Sebastian’s backpack to add another color to his work. He wouldn’t have had a problem with telling Nick that he’d drawn an entire comic about a superhero called Nightbird during the summer, but Sebastian wasn’t Nick. Sebastian would probably just make another dirty joke, so Blaine kept quiet.

The boys found a few other walls around town where they stopped to paint something. Sebastian’s artistic skills seemed to be limited to genitals and obscene words, while Blaine worked on improving his Nightbird tag and characters from his comic. They mainly targeted walls at the back of buildings, but there were a few places that, in Sebastian’s opinion, needed a dick on their front door, such as one of the churches they passed.

“Isn’t this a little too offensive?” Blaine asked with a bad feeling in his gut, picturing the horror-stricken grandmothers arriving for service in the morning.

“Offensive? I take offense if someone preaches that I’m vermin from hell because I’m not into the opposite sex. I’ve been at war with these hypocrites for a while now. They’re supposed to tell people to love their neighbor, but they do nothing but spawn hatred.” Sebastian was clearly upset. “My goddamn uncle is one of them.”

Blaine was surprised to see Sebastian that enraged. “I understand that, but how is it going to help if you spray a dick on their door? That doesn’t really convey the message.”

“Too late, Mother Teresa, the dick is already there for them to suck on” Sebastian hissed and put the spray can back into his backpack. “Let’s head back, you’re ruining this for me.”

It was already three o’clock and they walked back to Dalton in silence again. The night had been fun for Blaine, but the argument in front of the church had stirred him up just as much as Sebastian. He wished he hadn’t said anything, but Sebastian’s reaction had been completely out of proportion. Maybe Sebastian had his own demons to fight, but the more Blaine thought about it, the angrier he got at him.

It hadn’t been Blaine’s idea to go out that night, Sebastian had more or less dragged him downtown. Claiming that Blaine had ruined everything was unfair. He noticed that his hands were clenched into fists. What had he been thinking? He had known that he would hate Sebastian again after the relatively peaceful hairstyling session.

When they arrived at Dalton, Sebastian had calmed down and suggested to paint something on the school grounds as well. Blaine was pissed and wanted to go back to his room, but he also didn’t want to be a quitter. He didn’t have a good feeling about spraying walls at Dalton, but he followed Sebastian around the buildings to look for a good spot. Large parts of the walls were covered in ivy.

“It’s like they planted this shit on purpose,” Sebastian cursed. Eventually, they reached the back of the gym, which was the building furthest away from the dorms. “This looks good. A beautiful blank wall.” He turned to Blaine with an especially wicked smirk. “Chaste and virginal. Just like you, babe.”

Blaine felt his blood start to boil. The last thing he needed that night was more of Sebastian’s idiotic comments. “Would you stop it, for fuck’s sake?”

Sebastian faked a surprised expression. “Oh, have I offended you? Are you telling me that you don’t like my dirty talk? I’m sorry, I just assumed you were totally into me. Because I know you are.” His smirk was so condescending that all Blaine wanted was to punch him in the face.

Blaine clenched his fists again. “Fuck you, Sebastian, you don’t know anything!”

Sebastian sighed and dropped his backpack to the ground. He walked over to Blaine and stopped right in front of him with a provocative grin on his face. “I _know_ that you are a homo and I know that _you_ know it, too. I don’t get why you’re trying to hide it, you don’t seem like the kind of guy who would do that. It’s a pity that you’re such a prude choirboy. With that pretty face of yours and that hot ass, you could get all the dick you want.”

Blaine’s conflicting feelings for Sebastian clashed inside him as violently as never before. Finally, he was taken over by the anger and aggression that had haunted him on a regular basis since the night of the dance. Before Sebastian could open his mouth again, Blaine lunged at Sebastian, threw him to the ground and punched him in the ribs. He threw another punch. And another.

Sebastian was just another bully. He targeted Blaine because he knew he was gay. He attacked him with obscene bullshit that only a fool would find flattering. He was making Blaine feel weak and, even worse, he made him feel gay and Blaine couldn’t stand that after what had happened at his old school. It just felt so wrong.

For several seconds, Sebastian didn’t defend himself at all. Blaine’s attack had taken him by surprise. Only after a few punches, he came to his senses and pushed Blaine off himself.

Blaine fell to the ground next to Sebastian and, a second later, Sebastian was on top of him, both hands around Blaine’s throat, pressing down. Blaine desperately gasped for air. Aiden’s face flashed before his eyes.

“Okay, princess, until now it has all been fun and games, but you don’t punch me, understand? You just don’t do that.” Sebastian’s expression was furious, his wild eyes glaring down at Blaine, who was still fighting for air, trying to pull Sebastian’s hands off his throat, but the grip was steady.

When Sebastian saw that Blaine was getting desperate, he let go of him and let him cough for air. He stood up and Blaine immediately got on his feet, too, still coughing and sucking air into his body as if he hadn’t breathed in months.

Without a word, Sebastian walked over to his backpack, took a bottle of water out of it and took a large sip. He then dropped it to the ground and leaned with his back against the wall that was still blank. He was still breathing fast from the fight, and he looked more serious than Blaine had ever seen him, hurt in a way, his smugness all gone. Sebastian closed his eyes, lifted his face towards the night sky and let out a sigh.

Blaine glared at him, his pulse still racing. His aggression had faded after punching Sebastian and so had the anger he had felt towards him. It was a huge relief. But seeing Sebastian’s angry face above him had stirred up something else in him. There had been a deep disappointment in Sebastian’s eyes that had made Blaine feel like his heart was breaking. He could see that Sebastian wasn’t as invulnerable as he pretended to be.

In the moonlight, Blaine could see every feature of Sebastian’s face. He had never seen anything as excruciatingly beautiful. The sight of it was the final blow against the dam that had been holding back Blaine’s desire for him. It was terrible and scary and foolish, but, at that very moment, he wanted him more than anything.

Blaine leaped at Sebastian, who had opened his eyes just in time to hold up his arms in front of him in an attempt to defend himself, thinking that Blaine was attacking him again. But it was a different kind of attack. Blaine grabbed Sebastian’s wrists, pulled them apart and pressed his lips on Sebastian’s.

He pinned him against the wall with his whole weight and felt how the urges he had tried to suppress were taking control over him. Blaine had never kissed anyone before. If somebody had told his silly, romantic past self a year ago that his first kiss would be like this, the consequence of a fistfight, desperate, almost violent, he would have been horrified. But at that moment, it was the best version he could have imagined, the only one. Because the person he was kissing was Sebastian, god of mischief and havoc.

Clearly, Sebastian had been caught by surprise, but he didn’t hesitate for a second to kiss Blaine back. He sucked on Blaine’s lower lip and playfully trapped it with his teeth. He let his tongue flick against Blaine’s upper lip and slowly worked his mouth open. 

The feeling of Sebastian’s soft, moist lips moving against Blaine’s was incredible, but when Sebastian’s tongue sought the tip of his and started to swirl around it, Blaine’s entire body flushed with an electrifying heat he had never felt before. He let go of Sebastian’s wrists and buried his hands in Sebastian’s silky hair.

As their kiss grew deeper, Sebastian cupped Blaine’s ass with both hands and pulled him close. This time, Blaine couldn’t hide his erection from Sebastian and he didn’t want to. He could feel that the arousal was mutual.

All of a sudden, Sebastian grabbed Blaine’s shoulders, moved around him and pushed him chest first against the wall. Pressing against him from behind, Sebastian slid his right hand around Blaine to cup his balls and thrust his crotch against Blaine’s ass.

Blaine let out a surprised moan. Now that he had lost control, he felt a bit scared, but Sebastian’s hand was exactly where he wanted it. He had never been touched like that.

When Sebastian opened the button of Blaine’s pants with his other hand and unzipped them, Blaine felt a rush of panic wash over him, but his longing was stronger than his fear. Sebastian spat into his right hand, dove it into Blaine’s pants and started to stroke his cock.

Blaine thought his legs were going to give out. He had lost control over everything, his breathing, his mind and the sounds escaping from his mouth. Sebastian’s skillful, rhythmic strokes were better than anything Blaine had ever felt before. On top of that, Sebastian was kissing and licking his ear and neck and Blaine could feel Sebastian’s hard cock pressed against his ass. All of it was driving him insane.

After less than thirty seconds, Blaine couldn’t take it anymore. He let out a deep moan and his body flooded with orgasmic bliss. Even a minute after, he was still panting, bathed in sweat, but the good kind.

Sebastian released the pressure on Blaine’s back and pulled his hand out of Blaine’s pants. He had somehow managed to trap most of Blaine’s release in his left fist.

“Look at you, babe,” he whispered into Blaine’s ear, making a shiver run down Blaine’s spine. “I knew. And I knew how much you needed this. You should learn to trust me.”

Blaine turned around and stared at Sebastian in awe and bewilderment, still breathing hard. His legs were so weak, he had to hold on to the wall.

Sebastian walked over to his backpack, took out a cloth that was spotted with spray paint and wiped his hands. “Looks like we’re not going to give the gym a new paint job tonight after all. Whatever, hand jobs are more fun anyways. Now I gotta go and wash your jizz off me. See you tomorrow, babe.” He threw his backpack over his shoulder and left.

Blaine’s legs finally gave out and he slid down the wall, pants still open. He couldn’t grasp what had just happened. He just knew that it had felt shockingly right.


	7. One Boy, Many Faces

Blaine awoke after lunchtime, feeling as if he hadn’t slept at all. There was a stinging pain in his head and his body felt heavy, as it often did after a bad night’s sleep. He hadn’t been able to fall asleep until seven in the morning.

On top of that, he’d had the weirdest dream about spraying graffiti with Sebastian all over Westerville. He’d dreamt something about a fistfight as well. And a desperate yet passionate kiss. And a hand job, irresistible and smoking hot. Blaine covered his face with his hands and rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t believe what his crazy head had come up with again.

He lifted his hands from his face and opened his eyes slowly. Then he froze. He stared at his palms in front of his eyes. They were covered with spots of blue and green paint. 

Blaine’s heart started to beat faster as the memories of the past night became clearer. It hadn’t been a dream. Westerville had become a little more colorful overnight and Blaine had experienced his first kiss and his first sexual encounter with another boy. Not just with any boy, but with Sebastian.

“Fuck!” Blaine threw himself around in his bed and buried his face in his pillow. The cat was out of the bag. Sebastian had gotten the confirmation that he had been right all along. He knew that Blaine was indeed gay _and_ that the sexual interest was mutual.

Blaine wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole. What he felt wasn’t really embarrassment, but, whatever it was, it was just too much to handle. Luckily, it was Saturday and he could hide away in his room all day. 

He’d missed breakfast and lunch and his stomach was rumbling. Earlier that week, Nick had shown him the closest grocery store and Blaine had bought his favorite cereal, which wasn’t available at breakfast in the dining hall. It gave Blaine a feeling of home. He got up to get the box out of his closet and snuggled up in bed with his laptop and the cinnamon cereal.

Watching TV series would be the best distraction, he decided. They always helped him escape to another world and forget everything around him for hours.

Blaine started to watch an episode of the latest season of _The Flash_. After the first few scenes, an eerie feeling befell him. He almost choked on his dry cereal when he realized that the leading actor bore an uncanny resemblance to Sebastian. 

Immediately, Blaine stopped the video and tried to think of something to watch that wouldn’t remind him of the one person he tried not to think of that day. He ended up in a major YouTube spiral and he may have watched one or two interviews with the lead actor of _The Flash_. Maybe three.

Several hours later, the cereal box was empty and Blaine wasn’t feeling any better. Sebastian was still on his mind and Blaine had the terrible feeling that he was there to stay. 

Blaine set his laptop aside, stretched out on his bed and closed his eyes. Everything was different now. Would Sebastian still try to hit on him? Probably not, now that he knew that Blaine was into him. He had probably lost interest already, like a cat that has fun chasing a mouse as long as it’s running away in mortal fear. Once the cat has managed to kill it, the mouse is left to rot. The thought of it made Blaine feel a painful sting in his gut. 

It was almost dinnertime and he thought that it might be a good idea to eat something other than cinnamon cereal for a change. He went to the bathroom and washed off the spray paint that he hadn’t been able to get rid of during his nightly shower. He splashed some water in his face and tried to tame his messy hair with his wet hands. He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned. _What the hell have you done?_ He was hoping that he wouldn’t have to face Sebastian in the dining hall.

To Blaine’s surprise, relief and disappointment, Sebastian didn’t show up for dinner. Jeff was staying at Dalton that weekend, so Blaine joined him and a few other Warblers at their table and learned that Nick’s injuries weren’t as bad as expected. No surgery was required and his parents would pick him up from the hospital on Monday to take him home for two weeks. 

Although he thought that it would be nice to have the room to himself for a while, Blaine felt sad about Nick’s absence. They hadn’t known each other for that long yet, but Blaine didn’t have a closer friend than him at Dalton or anywhere else. Especially now that things with Sebastian had sort of escalated, it would have been nice to have someone to talk to, not about his boy issues, but to distract himself from them. Despite the fact that the other students were nice to him – even Jeff didn’t seem to bear a grudge - he hadn’t really warmed up with them.

After dinner, Blaine went back to his room and sat down at his desk in front of his laptop. He stared at the glaring screen for at least five minutes before he typed Sebastian’s name into the search bar.

There were tons of results. Sebastian seemed to be popular in the show choir scene. Blaine found several of the blogs Nick had mentioned, featuring photos of Sebastian and some entire posts about him. There were even a few photos of him with Jesse St. James.

Next, Blaine looked at the websites of the Buckeye Ranch, the Buckeye Golf Course and the Buckeye Hotel, all of which were owned by the Smythe family that had apparently made a fortune with oil several decades ago. Blaine recognized most of the places shown in the photos from driving by hundreds of times.

Of course, Blaine also found Sebastian’s social media profiles and, thankfully, they were mostly public. Sebastian had tons of online friends and appeared to be an active member in several LGBTQIA+ groups. Blaine had expected to see silly memes and dick jokes, but most of Sebastian’s posts had a serious, political focus, which was a relief.

After at least an hour of stalking Sebastian’s internet persona, Blaine leaned back in his chair and stared at his hands on the keyboard. All day, he’d been haunted by a terrible feeling and it was particularly strong at that moment. He felt restless, torn and most of all lonely. The reason for that wasn’t Nick’s absence. Even though it was a scary realization, Blaine concluded that he was missing Sebastian. More than that, he was longing for him.

Throughout the day, there had been moments when Blaine had closed his eyes and imagined Sebastian’s lips were millimeters from his right ear, his hands only inches away from his hips, ready to grab them any second. Every time that had happened, Blaine had felt a pleasant shiver run through his whole body. 

It was nine o’clock and Blaine was a bundle of nerves. Sebastian’s room was so close. Maybe he was there. Maybe Blaine could just go there and hang out with him, be with him, have him. 

Even if Sebastian had lost some of his interest, he probably wouldn’t turn Blaine away as long as he got something out of it. The previous night, Sebastian had given him pleasure, so maybe he was just waiting for him to pay him back. Blaine had no idea if he was ready to do that, but his online research had intensified his desire for Sebastian so significantly that he decided to go to the other boy’s room to see if he was there.

Blaine put on his favorite sweater and a pair of jeans that made his butt look nice. He fixed his hair with a little gel and left his room with a pounding heart.

On the short way to Sebastian’s room, Blaine’s thoughts were running wild. It was very likely that Sebastian wasn’t there because he hadn’t been at dinner either. Maybe he had gone home. Maybe he was at some frat party over at the university. Maybe he already had a visitor and Blaine would walk in on them.

That last thought was the worst but probably the most likely and it made Blaine stand in front of Sebastian’s door for quite a while. He tried hard to hear something, but there were no moans or screams of pleasure. There was nothing.

Blaine eventually gathered the courage to knock at the door. Nothing. He knocked again and waited. Nothing. Blaine knocked again and when he got no response, he was about to turn around and go back to his room, but something inside him stopped him from doing that. Instead, he turned the doorknob. To Blaine’s surprise, the door wasn’t locked, so he pushed it open.

When Blaine stepped into the room, he was greeted with a scene he hadn’t expected. Sebastian was sitting on his bed, cuddled up underneath his blanket, watching something on his laptop. He was wearing headphones and black glasses that made him look incredibly smart and attractive. 

Sebastian was taken by surprise. As soon as he had recovered from the initial shock of the unexpected visitor, he ripped the headphones and glasses from his head, set the laptop aside and glared at Blaine with an outraged expression. “What do you want?” he snapped rudely, almost causing Blaine to walk out the door again backwards.

“I’m... sorry,” Blaine stammered, feeling bad for a moment, but then he remembered that Sebastian had come into his room while he had been asleep, which was arguably worse. “I just wanted to see if you’re there because I didn’t see you at dinner.”

Sebastian frowned. “So? Since when have you grown so attached? I ordered pizza.” There was an empty pizza box next to him on the floor. “Sorry I didn’t ask you if you wanted one, too,” he said with a sarcastic tone.

It seemed obvious to Blaine that what he’d feared was actually true. Sebastian had lost interest in him, why else would he be so hostile? “I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’m gonna go.” 

Blaine turned around and was halfway through the door when he heard a halfhearted “Wait”. He looked at Sebastian again, whose frown had disappeared. 

“I guess we’re even now when it comes to walking into each others’ rooms unannounced,” Sebastian mumbled.

“I knocked three times,” Blaine protested. “Why do you even wear headphones in a single room?”

“The sound is better. And obviously, you shouldn’t walk into anyone’s room if they don’t ask you in. But who am I to judge.” Finally, Sebastian’s voice sounded normal again and Blaine was relieved to hear that he hadn’t pissed him off in a worse way. Blaine closed the door behind him.

“So what _do_ you want?” Sebastian asked again, sounding positively interested this time.

Blaine didn’t quite know how to put it. “I just wanted to check if you’d like to hang out. But I see that you’re busy... Hey, is that _Gilmore Girls_ you’re watching?”

With a quick motion of his hand, Sebastian slammed his laptop shut. “Of course not,” he hissed, his tone angry again, but he took a deep breath and seemed to focus on staying cool. “Have a seat.” He pointed to his bed. After a brief hesitation, Blaine sat down next to him.

Sebastian looked at him with a curious grin. “So you wanna hang out. Is there anything specific you want to do?” 

Blaine was excited to see the familiar flirtatious smile on Sebastian’s face. He imagined his soft, bold lips all over him. Blaine was sure that this fantasy could become true within minutes if he really wanted it. His pulse already quickened, but he couldn’t bring himself to make a move. “Uhm... I don’t know. It seems like you’re in the mood to watch something, so that would be fine by me.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Oh, come on. That’s definitely not why you’re here. You got a taste of me and now you can’t think of anything else. Can’t blame you.”

Blaine knew he needed to distract himself from the sexual tension that was filling the room like smoke. He shook his head, mostly to convince himself that what Sebastian had said wasn’t true. “No, as I said, I thought we could hang out. It’s a little boring without Nick.”

Sebastian’s skeptical look made it obvious that he didn’t believe Blaine, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to dig deeper. “Alright, let’s watch something then.” Sebastian put his laptop back on his lap and made sure that Blaine couldn’t see the screen when he opened it. “What do you feel like?”

“I don’t know.” Blaine shrugged. “You decide.”

They spent the next few minutes discussing what to watch and settled on a _Star Trek_ movie. Sebastian got up from the bed and locked the door, which made Blaine panic a little, but he soon learned the reason for it. Sebastian walked over to his closet to get a few pillows as well as a six-pack of beer. He handed Blaine a can. “Sorry, it’s not cold, but warm beer is better than no beer.”

Sebastian sat back down on the bed right next to Blaine, made himself comfortable with two pillows behind his back and begrudgingly put his glasses back on.

“These glasses look really good on you. You should wear them more often,” Blaine felt compelled to say when he noticed Sebastian’s dissatisfied expression. 

“Psh... Of course, the first compliment you pay _me_ had to be about my glasses. That’s so lame. Or are you just warming up and about to say something about my skilled tongue and magic hands?”

Blaine instantly regretted opening his mouth. He averted his eyes and hoped that Sebastian would just start the movie.

“But I guess you just don’t have anyone to compare me with. It was your first time making out with a guy, wasn’t it?” Sebastian settled his left hand on Blaine’s thigh and squeezed it, which made Blaine’s heart skip a beat. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. You were pretty courageous and not bad at all for a first-timer. I had fun. Can’t wait to teach you more. But now let’s watch this movie.” He lifted his can. “Cheers!”

Blaine’s flight instinct was close to kicking in, but he knew that he was beyond that stage. Running away from Sebastian was no longer an option, so he gulped down half his beer instead. Thankfully, Sebastian’s hand didn’t stay on his thigh for long. Blaine didn’t know what to do with his limbs, so he pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. It made him look comfortable and relaxed, but, for him, it felt rather like a position of self-defense.

A few minutes into the movie, Blaine realized that he wasn’t able to focus on the screen at all. His head was in overdrive. He was hyper-aware of every move Sebastian made. In a way, Blaine expected him to do something. Where were his hands? Why didn’t Sebastian touch him again? Blaine was just as scared of physical contact between them as he was eager for it, and he was painfully aware of how pathetic that was.

The longer the movie went on, the more Blaine was able to calm down again. One reason for that was that he was already on his second beer. Blaine happily accepted a third as well, even though all the beer caused several bathroom breaks. 

Watching the movie with Sebastian was actually fun. His remarks were hilarious and he was surprisingly good at imitating some of the characters. For the first time, Blaine truly enjoyed his company without second thoughts.

Towards the end of the movie, Blaine was completely relaxed and blissfully drunk. Everything was just peachy. He peacefully drifted off to sleep and his head slowly but steadily shifted to the side towards Sebastian and came to rest on his shoulder.

Had Blaine seen the conflicted look on Sebastian’s face upon feeling the other boy’s head on his shoulder, he would have run away immediately, thinking that Sebastian was annoyed by him. Blaine wouldn’t have been there to see that, after a moment of contemplation, Sebastian’s gaze softened until he looked genuinely _touched_.

Sebastian didn’t move for several minutes while the credits were rolling on the laptop screen. He seemed to be mulling over what to do. Finally, he moved away from Blaine very slowly and carefully, still supporting his weight, until Blaine was lying on the bed. 

Without making a sound, Sebastian got up and moved his laptop over to his desk. He went to the bathroom and when he got back to his room, Blaine was still sound asleep. 

Something, half sigh, half chuckle, escaped from Sebastian’s lips as he looked at Blaine. He took off his sweater and his pants and placed them neatly folded on top of his dresser. Then, he walked over to his closet to grab a blanket for Blaine. He gently put it on top of the other boy and lay down next to him. 

Sebastian didn’t fall asleep for hours.

* * *

When Blaine woke up, the sun was already peeking through the curtains. He blinked his eyes several times in confusion. He didn’t recognize the room he was in. 

Blaine turned his head to the right and was greeted with a broad grin. Sebastian’s face was only inches away from his. Multiple alarms went off in Blaine’s head at the same time. Clothes! Where were his clothes? He was only wearing boxers. Did that mean that something had happened, something he had no recollection of?

“Good morning, babe,” Sebastian purred. “Looking for your clothes? They’re on the floor where you left them.” He seemed to think that Blaine’s confusion was hilarious and let out a brief laugh. “You should see your face. It’s priceless. Just so you know, hon, I wasn’t involved in this. You took your clothes off after returning from the bathroom in the middle of the night. I thought you’d go back to your room, but no, you seemed to miss me already. And I would never kick out a stunner like you, even though I’m not really a fan of sleepovers.”

Gradually, Blaine remembered the movie and the beer. “Damn, I must have been drunk,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, seems like you need more practice. There’s a party over at the university next weekend. You should come. Anyways, let’s practice something else first.”

Blaine didn’t even need to ask what he meant because, a mere second later, Sebastian was on top of him and started to kiss him with a passion that took Blaine’s breath away.

No longer able to think clearly, Blaine’s reaction was entirely driven by instinct. He opened his mouth to let Sebastian’s tongue enter and caress him. Hesitantly, he lifted his hands and started to explore Sebastian’s naked chest and back, enjoying the feeling of every single one of his toned muscles.

When Sebastian’s hand closed around his balls and squeezed them, a moan escaped from Blaine’s mouth into Sebastian’s. Blaine wanted nothing more than to take off his boxers, to feel Sebastian’s skin on his again. His mind was clouded with arousal, but, all of a sudden, a flash of anxiety struck him like a thunderbolt. He turned his head to the side and grabbed Sebastian’s wrist to keep him from massaging his balls.

“What are you doing?” Sebastian asked with a puzzled look.

Blaine tried hard to regain control over his thoughts and his body. He didn’t want to give in to Sebastian again. On the one hand, Sebastian had made him feel insanely good the other night, but on the other hand, he had made him feel equally degraded after leaving him all alone and utterly destroyed behind the gym. He knew he would be kicked out of Sebastian’s room like a goddamn toy after they’d be done and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle that.

“I don’t know if we should do this now,” Blaine mumbled, still averting his face.

Sebastian didn’t seem to know if he should be displeased or amused. “We’ve been over this. I told you that you should trust me. If you’re into sleepovers without sex, you should get yourself a boyfriend. But that would be a total waste because you could have any guy, as you will be able to see for yourself next weekend if you come to the party. You just have to get rid of this silly attitude.”

Blaine didn’t quite know why, but Sebastian’s words stung. Maybe because he had wanted a boyfriend for a long time. Maybe because, for some inexplicable reason, he wanted Sebastian. Maybe because he realized in that instant that these things he wanted were conflicting.

Sebastian dove back down to kiss Blaine. His lips made their way from Blaine’s lips down his neck and chest. “You’re so hot, babe,” Sebastian murmured between kisses. “I knew you’d look even better with your clothes off.”

Blaine lifted his head to watch Sebastian leave a trail of kisses on his body and a trail of destruction in his head. He wanted Sebastian all over him, but there was a whole new sadness to this desire. More than ever, he realized that, for Sebastian, he was one of many, no matter how many compliments were thrown at him. He had always imagined having his first kiss with someone special, someone he loved and who loved him back. Sebastian had already stolen that and he seemed to be determined to steal the remaining firsts as well.

Sebastian had made it below Blaine’s navel. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of Blaine’s boxers and looked up at him. The torn expression on Blaine’s face seemed to irritate him.

“It’s okay, babe. Relax. You’re about to enter paradise. Can’t wait to see your cock. It felt incredible the other night... I haven’t been able to think of anything else ever since.”

Before Sebastian could remove Blaine’s boxers, Blaine pulled his legs out from under him and jumped off the bed. Sebastian let out a sound of utter frustration, collapsed on the bed and buried his face in a pillow. Blaine picked up his clothes from the floor and put them on quickly. 

Sebastian lifted his head and gazed at Blaine with a mix of disappointment and annoyance. “Why are you such a tease? That’s brutal, man.”

Blaine looked at Sebastian’s naked back and tried to ignore that every muscle in his body wanted to move him back into that bed. He had to say something. Anything. “Maybe I’m not so much into your lifestyle.”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped, followed by a chuckle. “First of all, you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about since your only sexual experience is a hand job I gave you. Second, my _lifestyle_ didn’t really seem to matter to you the other night because you’re obviously into me. So how about you just take what you get?”

There it was again, Sebastian’s disgusting arrogance. Blaine was glad that he had been able to stop Sebastian from doing any more harm. “I guess we’re just not compatible.”

Sebastian laughed and commented dryly, “As long as your dick fits in my mouth or ass and vice versa, we’re compatible. And I’m pretty sure we are.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You know what, you’re being fucking complicated and it’s turning me off. See you later, or tomorrow, or whenever.” 

Blaine was dumbstruck. Sebastian’s words were like daggers, hurting him unexpectedly and deeply. A rush of fury surged through Blaine and he felt the urge to punch Sebastian again. But he realized how silly that would be, so he just left, slammed the door shut behind him and hurried back to his own room.

Sebastian was just being honest. And he was probably right. Blaine should get himself a boyfriend. After hearing Sebastian’s latest obnoxious remark, Blaine was sure that what he really wanted was to be with someone special, not just fuck around with somebody like Sebastian, even though his body seemed to disagree. 

With his newly won confidence, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to get to know someone, maybe even at the party Sebastian had mentioned - if Sebastian was still willing to take him there. Luckily, Blaine already knew that, just like him, Sebastian wasn’t resentful.


	8. Frenemies

After returning to his room on Sunday morning, Blaine felt even worse than the day before. He’d slept like a log in Sebastian’s bed, but he was hungover and upset. Whatever door had been opened between Sebastian and him suddenly seemed to be closed again - probably locked for good.

Although he was mad and disappointed, Blaine couldn’t stop his mind from revisiting every moment he had spent with Sebastian. He knew it would be best to just ignore and forget that abusive, self-absorbed prick, but he couldn’t keep himself from recalling every tiny little thing about him that was _not_ despicable.

Stop, stop, stop, he had to stop. Something strange was going on inside Blaine and he needed it to end because it was creepy and potentially painful. He had to come to a logical conclusion and then shut it off. 

There was no denying that Blaine was physically attracted to Sebastian, but that was absolutely normal. Just because it was the first time he was drawn to a guy that intensely, it was nothing to worry about. Sebastian was the first gay guy to ever pursue him that way, so it was just natural that Blaine’s body wanted to give in and satisfy its primal urges. But that was about it.

Blaine was definitely not falling for him because Sebastian was a terrible person and Blaine would never sink that low. Even if Nick hadn’t warned him, having feelings for someone as disgusting as Sebastian would just be pathetic. 

Case closed.

This whole mess with Sebastian was actually great because it had helped Blaine realize that he was probably attractive enough to find an actual boyfriend. And having a boyfriend would solve all his problems, which ranged from loneliness to thinking too much about Sebastian to that internalized, borderline homophobia he had been cultivating. Somebody out there would be good for him - in contrast to Sebastian.

That new goal in mind, Blaine’s thoughts were running wild. Should he download a dating app? After doing some research on that, he figured that most of the guys using such an app were probably just like Sebastian, so he decided not to. It was also a little problematic that he was technically still a minor.

A sudden realization made his heart sink. Aiden would have been the perfect boyfriend. He was a wonderful person and he was the only guy who’d ever had feelings for Blaine. It was a fucking tragedy that somebody like Sebastian could light up a fire in Blaine, while Aiden had made him feel nothing but the innocent warmth of friendship and brotherhood. 

Aiden would surely give him anything he could possibly ask for, but Blaine quickly buried the urge to contact him. Leading him on would make Blaine more selfish and cruel than Sebastian.

Blaine desperately needed a distraction and ended up in a common room with Trent and Thad, who interrupted their game of pool to tell Blaine stories about past competitions the Warblers had participated in. That whole show choir business sounded exciting and Blaine was looking forward to Sectionals. He decided to focus on his singing and dancing in the upcoming weeks. There was no room for distractions. It was just unfortunate that Sebastian was a Warbler, too.

* * *

The following week, Blaine started to take school very seriously, which turned out to be a great distraction as well. During classes, he managed to hang on the teachers’ lips and completely ignore Sebastian, who was, without a doubt, constantly looking at him. In the evenings, he spent twice as much time than usual on his homework in order to avoid thinking of a certain individual.

He was just as focused during the Warbler meetings. On Monday, they finalized the background vocals for _Chandelier_. Blaine was blown away by the other guys. They seemed to know each others’ voices inside out and their rhythm and harmonies were perfectly aligned. Compared to the Warblers, Blaine’s old glee club had sounded like an uncoordinated flock of chickens. Their professionalism made him doubt if he was qualified to sing the solos, but it was too late to flake out. He would just have to work hard to keep up with them.

On Thursday, David announced that the Warblers would have to work on their choreography that day. Blaine deeply regretted wearing the school uniform, but everyone was wearing it and nobody seemed to mind. He hoped that he would eventually get used to it, too. 

“Blaine! Chin up, chest out, and _smile_!” David reminded him several times while they were practicing their performance. 

During a break, David took Blaine aside. “I don’t want to scare you, but people will be looking at you ninety percent of the time. That means that your performance will be the most important of all. Your vocals are great, but you have to work on your stage presence. Everything has to look easy and fun. You’re currently looking mostly stressed out and uncomfortable. I know you can do better, just relax.”

Blaine sighed and a frown darkened his face. “I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can do it. It’s so hard to remember all the steps while singing.”

David patted his shoulder. “I know that this is new for you, buddy, but it’s something that definitely gets easier with experience. If you want, we can meet up on Tuesdays or Wednesdays after school and practice without the others. I know you can do this. Your dance moves look really good, you just have to keep your posture in mind and try not to overthink everything. Dancing is like a flow, it has to come naturally.” 

Nodding, Blaine tried to take in David’s words, but he mostly felt embarrassed. Obviously, he wasn’t good enough for any of this.

“Maybe it will help you to watch the others,” David suggested with an encouraging smile on his face. He turned to the other Warblers. “Guys, can you please start over one more time? No vocals, just dancing.” He started the music and turned back to Blaine. “Watch Hunter and Sebastian. They sang most of the solos last year. Look at their facial expression and their posture. That is how you embody self-confidence.”

When the Warblers started their choreography for _Chandelier_ , Blaine was impressed with their unity. Since the others were usually behind his back during most of the performance, he hadn’t really seen the group dance yet. It turned out that their movements were just as synchronized as their voices. 

Begrudgingly, Blaine made himself focus on the two people in the group he wanted to look at the least. It was obvious what David meant. Although they blended in perfectly with the group, both Sebastian and Hunter acted as if they were the center of attention. They had confident smiles on their faces and their moves were determined and flawless. Their competitive drive seemed to be always on. 

When Sebastian noticed that Blaine was watching him, he gave him a teasing smile that made a shiver run down Blaine’s spine. Maybe it wasn’t over. Blaine suddenly felt a little sick.

“Okay, thank you, everyone!” David stopped the music. “Did you see what I meant?”

Blaine hadn’t been listening. He was still processing the mental images of Sebastian dancing like a star. And of that damn smile. David’s questioning look made him wake up from his daydream. “Huh?”

“Did you see what I meant when I said that you have to embody self-confidence?” David asked again with a hint of impatience.

“Uhm, sorry. Yeah, I did. I’ll try to do that, too,” Blaine stammered and tried to concentrate on his task.

David nodded approvingly. “Alright then.” He addressed the group again. “One more time with Blaine and vocals, and then we’ll call it quits for today!”

This time, Blaine tried very hard to make his performance look easy, which wasn’t even as contradictory as it sounded. He made himself believe that he deserved his place in the spotlight because he could sing his solos better than any of the other guys, which was a fact. And performing _was_ fun, so there was no reason to look stressed or uncomfortable.

In the middle of the performance, the door opened and closed quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine saw that a boy had entered the room and was watching the performance standing next to the door. The Warblers were facing David who was standing in front of the fireplace, so most of them didn’t notice the visitor. 

Blaine was so focused on his singing and dancing that he didn’t pay any attention to him either, but when the boy started to clap loudly after the music had stopped, Blaine turned around to look at him. 

The first thing that struck him was that the boy wasn’t wearing a Dalton uniform but a jean jacket and tight, black pants. He had brown, wavy hair and looked oddly familiar. Blaine had seen him somewhere very recently. He remembered the photos he’d come across on the show choir blogs. The boy had been in some photos together with Sebastian. In real life, he was even more handsome.

The startled look on most the other Warblers’ faces confirmed Blaine’s suspicion. The visitor was Jesse St. James.

“Bravo!” he exclaimed. “Excellent performance, birdies. Too bad that you won’t make it further than Regionals.” 

Hunter and Sebastian were the only ones happy to see him, greeting him with fist bumps as if they had known each other forever. 

Wes, on the other hand, looked outraged and seemed to be trying hard to keep his voice steady and calm. “Jesse. What a surprise. If you had informed us about your visit, we could have offered you a proper welcome. But, to be honest, I don’t really appreciate when competitors burst into our practice unannounced. I’m sure you understand that.”

Jesse laughed. “I’m sorry, Wes. I have to admit, this is a rather spontaneous visit. I was down in Columbus to meet up with a potential new coach for next season - in case the current one doesn’t fulfill our expectations. Anyways, word has it you guys have a new alpha bird. That made me curious enough to make a little detour to your Thursday practice.”

Blaine’s pulse quickened. Jesse St. James had come to see him. On a day when David had pointed out that his stage presence sucked. That was just great. And now he was looking straight at him.

“So that would be you, right? Blaine?” Jesse’s speaking voice was incredibly attractive and hypnotizing. It was low and soft, like a warm blanket that wrapped itself around Blaine.

“Yes, I’m Blaine,” he mumbled. “But I’m not an alpha bird.” He regretted saying that even before Hunter, Sebastian and Jesse started to laugh out loud. 

“Obviously not,” Jesse chuckled. Blaine noticed that most of the Warblers had started to leave, seemingly intimidated by Jesse’s presence. “See you at Mitch’s at seven,” Jesse said to Hunter, who gave him a high five before leaving. Finally, only Wes, Sebastian, Blaine and Jesse were left in the room.

“So Wes, this guy is supposed to win Sectionals for you?” Jesse was talking about Blaine as if he wasn’t there, which made his blood boil. “He’s a pretty boy and the vocals are quite impressive, but I told you last time that you need a lion to beat us. This one is a kitten.”

Wes seemed to be just as pissed as Blaine. “Listen, you cannot just walk in here and insult my Warblers. That’s unacceptable.”

Jesse grinned at Wes as if he’d made a joke. “As you can see, I sure can. And I’m glad to hear you finally admit you’re a dictator. _Your_ Warblers. Jeez. Just like Hunter said.”

Wes’s face was red with rage. “Was Hunter also the one who told you we have a new soloist? And when we meet? That will have consequences!”

Sebastian cleared his throat. “That would have been me.” His smirk indicated that he was thoroughly enjoying the confrontation.

“Sebastian!” Wes’s furious eyes went back and forth between Jesse and Sebastian. “That is _unacceptable_!”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Calm down, man. I just wanted to show off our hottie here.” He laid his arm around Blaine’s shoulders. 

Startled, Blaine bounced sideways to escape and gave Sebastian an angry look.

Sebastian ignored Blaine’s stare and continued talking with Wes. “How was I supposed to know that Jesse wouldn’t like Blaine? I think he’s the most talented Warbler to have walked these halls. And definitely the most attractive. It just demonstrates that Jesse has poor taste when it comes to guys, probably because the sucker is straight. Isn’t that right, Jesse?”

Jesse grinned when he saw Blaine blushing. “That’s probably true. Oh well, there’s still some time until Sectionals. Maybe if you teach your pet some more tricks, Seb...”

“I’m not his pet!” Blaine protested, his hands clenched into fists.

Wes shook his head in frustration. “You are unbelievable. I can’t listen to this. You used to win with your talent and charisma, Jesse, but it seems like you have allowed yourself to become a malicious, cheating snake. You know that you can’t win against us without spying on us. I will report you to the judges if I hear anything suspicious.” Wes shot Jesse another angry stare and stomped away.

Blaine wanted to follow Wes because he felt that he was close to losing it. He imagined the reactions on the show choir blogs if he punched Jesse St. James at their first meeting. Maybe the Warblers would be disqualified from competing because of him and he didn’t want to risk that.

When Sebastian noticed that Blaine wanted to sneak out of the room, he grabbed Blaine’s wrist to stop him. “Hey babe, not so fast. Now that the lunatic is gone, I can finally introduce you to my friend Jesse.” Sebastian looked at Jesse with a slightly annoyed expression. “Would you mind apologizing to Blaine? The last thing he needs is someone like you to make him feel insecure. He’s a diamond in the rough.”

Jesse gave Blaine an inquisitive smile. “Alright. I have to admit that I just wanted to piss Wes off. I didn’t really mean it. You have potential.” He reached out his hand to Blaine. “Pleased to meet you.”

Blaine pulled his arm away from Sebastian’s grip who had still been holding his wrist. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to shake hands with somebody as insolent as Jesse, but he eventually did it, still pouting.

“Sebastian told me you’re from Lima. Did you transfer from McKinley High?” Jesse asked, the inquisitive look still on his face.

“No, I went to Lima Central,” Blaine answered reluctantly. His eyes wandered to Sebastian, who looked thunderstruck. Irritated by Sebastian’s reaction to his answer, Blaine returned his focus to Jesse.

“Never heard of that one. Whatever, good to know that you didn’t go to that shithole McKinley. I heard they want to try their luck again despite last year’s embarrassment. I wonder if they’ll compete against you at your Sectionals,” Jesse rambled on without even noticing that Sebastian had zoomed out. “Well, I actually have to go soon. I’m supposed to meet Hunter downtown. Do you guys want to join us?”

Blaine quickly shook his head. “No, thanks, I gotta do homework.”

Jesse chuckled again as if Blaine’s answer had been funny. “You’re hilarious. I’m seriously looking forward to seeing you perform. I may drop by at your Sectionals. Always gotta have an eye on the competition. What about you, Sebastian, are you coming?”

Sebastian was still staring at the floor, his face a bit paler than usual. Only gradually, he seemed to realize that somebody was talking to him. “Wha... What? To Mitch’s? Yeah, I’ll be there, but don’t wait for me. I gotta take care of something first.”

Jesse shrugged. “Alright. See you then.” 

After Jesse had left, Blaine felt Sebastian’s eyes on him. When Blaine turned to look at him, he was shocked to see the distressed expression on his face. 

Sebastian opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out of it. Blaine had never seen him speechless before and it was creeping him out.

“I’m gonna go,” Blaine mumbled and started to walk towards the door.

“Wait,” he heard Sebastian say. 

Blaine turned around, the doorknob already in his hand. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked with an irritated chuckle. He had never seen Sebastian that serious.

“Are you...” For some reason Sebastian didn’t finish the question. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and forced himself to smile. “Are you coming to the party on Saturday?”

Blaine was pretty sure that this wasn’t the question Sebastian had originally meant to ask. “Sure.”

“Awesome,” Sebastian replied briefly with a fake grin on his lips, before he slipped out of the door, leaving Blaine wondering what the hell was going on.


	9. Sparks

On Saturday, Blaine and Sebastian wanted to meet behind the gym at 9 p.m. to go to the party together. Blaine wasn’t entirely comfortable meeting him at exactly that spot in the dark. Part of him was hoping that Sebastian wouldn’t try to take advantage of the situation. The other part of him... Oh well.

Underneath his black pea coat, Blaine was wearing a navy blue shirt and tight, burgundy pants. He had gelled and styled his hair a little more thoroughly than usual, hoping to look like a college student rather than a schoolboy.

When Blaine arrived behind the gym, Sebastian wasn’t there yet. He started to pace back and forth right next to the wall where _it_ had happened and the memories of that night came back to his mind more vividly than ever.

After a few minutes, he couldn’t take it anymore. He walked back to the front of the gym. There was a light at the entrance of the building and Sebastian would surely be able to find him there. Only half a minute later, he appeared.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait behind the gym? Nobody is supposed to see us.” Sebastian had an annoyed look on his face that quickly vanished after he’d given Blaine a once-over. “Uff, babe, you look insanely fuckable tonight... Oh shit, did I just say that out loud? I’m sorry.”

Dead set on ignoring any stupid stuff coming from Sebastian’s mouth that night, Blaine just rolled his eyes. When he saw the embarrassed look on Sebastian’s face, he hesitated. Sebastian seemed to be truly sorry.

Blaine had to break the awkward silence. “I’m kinda used to your way of paying compliments by now. And what you said last weekend was way worse, maybe you should apologize for that.”

Sebastian was regaining his composure. “You can’t just turn a guy on and then drop him like that. That wasn’t cool.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Blaine objected.

“Oh no, not at all. You just slept in my bed, half naked and delicious.” Sebastian sounded frustrated. “Maybe you shouldn’t do something like that if you know that you want to save yourself for marriage.”

Somehow, Sebastian had succeeded in making Blaine feel guilty. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled with a very low voice. 

“Never mind.” Sebastian was suddenly smiling. “I’m gonna be your wingman tonight and I’m sure we’ll find you a husband, so you can finally get laid, too. Damn it, why are we still standing in the spotlight here? Anyone could see us. Let’s get going.”

They walked in the direction they had taken the previous weekend. An awkward silence was looming between them again, so Blaine decided to ask some questions that had been on his mind.

“Why do we have to sneak out like that all the time? Dalton isn’t a prison. It’s not even that late now.”

Sebastian chuckled. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that there’s a curfew for minors. I suppose you aren’t eighteen yet?”

“Almost.”

“Yeah, me too, but almost isn’t enough. If they see us leave, they’ll check our rooms to see if we’re back by ten. If you’re wearing street clothes, you’re particularly suspicious, hence the masquerade when we went to Columbus. Speaking off, the reason why I had detention that day was because Principal Lee saw me return from a stroll after ten the night before.”

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I see. I meant to ask you why you got detention that day.”

Sebastian laughed. “Pretty lame reason, isn’t it? Little did she know that I had beer in my backpack. These teachers think they’re so smart, but they’re just ridiculous.”

Blaine had to agree and couldn’t suppress a grin.

“And so are most students at Dalton,” Sebastian continued. “As you may have noticed, I don’t spend much of my spare time there. I prefer hanging out with people over at Beaverton University. It’s a rather small university, but the parties are legendary as you’ll see for yourself tonight.”

“But aren’t these people much older?”

“Not really. Also, Dalton isn’t considered a typical high school around here. Dalton boys are welcome at Beaverton. You’ll probably see several familiar faces at the party. It’s about the only place in Westerville where Dalton boys can try to score a girl. Usually, that doesn’t work out well for them. Very funny to watch.” Sebastian let out a chuckle at the thought. “Most of my friends are members of the LGBT group. I think you’ll like them, too. They’re cool people.”

Blaine couldn’t stop himself from asking, “You probably mean friends with benefits?”

Sebastian grinned broadly. “You know how I roll, hon. Yeah, kinda. But don’t worry, some of them are just as lame as you.”

The walk was much shorter than expected. Blaine recognized the dorm buildings that Sebastian had pointed out before. They were plain and modern, probably no older than ten years, and quite a contrast to the old university buildings Nick had shown him, which looked more like Dalton. 

Blaine could already hear loud electronic beats and Sebastian led him inside the building the music was coming from. They walked through a long corridor decorated with students’ photos from parties and travels. When Sebastian opened the door at the end of the hallway, colorful lights, blaring music and chatter burst into Blaine’s face like a bomb.

It took Blaine a while to take everything in. The party was taking place in a huge common room with several couches and tables loaded with snacks and alcohol. The room was decorated with countless balloons and even a disco ball. Only seconds after they’d entered, Blaine was already feeling hot in his coat because the room was packed. People were talking, dancing and drinking all around them.

Blaine did actually recognize a few faces. He saw Hunter, Thad and the guy with the dreadlocks whom he had often seen in the dining hall.

“Seb, sweetheart!” A bouncy, redheaded girl had appeared out of nowhere with a cup in her hand. She threw her arms around Sebastian’s neck and almost spilled half her drink. “I missed you so much. Did you have a good summer?”

Sebastian smiled at her with a sincerity Blaine hadn’t seen in him yet. “Hey babe, I missed you, too! The break was super boring, I’m glad to be back. And Dalton got a little more interesting this year.”

“How so?” the girl asked. Her eyes followed Sebastian’s nod to the side and landed on Blaine. “Oh hello, who are you? I’m Patricia, but everyone calls me Trish.”

Blaine introduced himself and shook her hand.

“Holy smoke, Seb, is this guy your boyfriend or can I have him?”

“Nah, sadly, he’s not interested in either of us,” Sebastian replied and made a face. “I was thinking of hooking him up with Jay. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, he’s with the guys over there. Good thing this handsome man isn’t wasted on you,” she said giggling and planted a kiss on Sebastian’s cheek. “Anyways, welcome to our party. You can throw your coats onto the heap in the corner there. Talk to you later!” She beamed at both of them and joined a group of girls dancing under the disco ball.

Blaine and Sebastian did as they were told and got rid of their jackets. As Blaine rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, he felt Sebastian’s eyes on him. When he turned to look at him, Sebastian’s pensive look melted into a smile.

“Let’s go, I want to introduce you to some people.”

While Blaine was following him through the crowded room, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Sebastian’s broad back that was accentuated by the plaid shirt he was wearing. His jeans showed off his toned legs and appealing ass. Although he had taken off his jacket, Blaine felt hot again and it wasn’t because of the room temperature.

It didn’t take Sebastian long to find who he was looking for. There was a group of guys gathered on and around one of the couches, who greeted Sebastian with hugs and high fives. After Blaine had been introduced to everyone and had shaken everybody’s hands, he had already forgotten all the names again.

Blaine exchanged a few words with some of the guys, trying to guess if any or maybe all of them were gay when he felt Sebastian’s hand on his shoulder.

“Here comes a guy who would be perfect for you. Just as prude and boring.” Sebastian nodded towards a young man who was approaching them with two red cups in his hand. “Hey Jeremiah, how’s it going?”

Just like the others, Jeremiah smiled broadly when he noticed Sebastian. Blaine was relieved to see that there were people who appeared to genuinely like Sebastian. Maybe his attraction to him wasn’t all that strange.

“Hey, great to see you!” Jeremiah handed Sebastian one of the drinks. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. I brought you something. You can thank me later. Have fun!” Sebastian said with a wink at Jeremiah and handed Blaine the cup. “I’m gonna get my own drink. This one probably doesn’t even have alcohol. Talk to you later.” Then, he turned around to talk to the other guys and left Blaine with the young man.

Blaine stood there dumbfounded, his eyes following Sebastian. How could he just leave him alone with a complete stranger? Blaine was about to get seriously pissed at Sebastian again, when he reminded himself that he had come to the party to meet a potential boyfriend. Maybe Sebastian had actually done him a favor. 

“Okay. This is weird,” Jeremiah mumbled with an embarrassed chuckle. “Well... I’m Jeremiah.”

Blaine pulled himself together and smiled at Jeremiah as if meeting him had been the plan all along. “My name is Blaine. Nice to meet you.”

They said cheers and sipped on their drinks. Blaine’s turned out to be a gin tonic with an emphasis on gin. He was glad about that because he was feeling nervous after having been set up with somebody. 

Luckily, Jeremiah seemed like a really nice guy. He was a little taller than Blaine and had strawberry-blond curls, quite a bit longer than Blaine’s before the haircut. His face was remarkably handsome, his eyes a beautiful blue. Overall, he was very attractive. Sebastian had done something good for a change.

When Blaine asked him what he was studying, Jeremiah’s eyes dropped to the floor. He seemed embarrassed. “Actually, I’m not studying at Beaverton. I used to, but I dropped out after the first year. I’m the junior manager of a Gap store in Columbus. But I guess you’re studying here?”

Blaine was just as abashed as Jeremiah. “Uhm... I’m not studying yet. I’m a student at Dalton Academy.”

Unexpectedly, Jeremiah didn’t seem to be turned off. “You don’t look like you’re still going to high school. You must be done with it soon.”

“Yeah, right,” Blaine said quickly, even though that answer was a bit of a stretch.

“I wanted to study Psychology, but it wasn’t for me,” Jeremiah explained. “Back then, I had just come out and I joined the LGBT group right away. What can I say, these people are still my best friends. So you’re here with Sebastian?”

Blaine nodded and briefly looked over to Sebastian who was talking with a good-looking guy. His flirtatious smile had so far been reserved for Blaine and seeing it on Sebastian’s face for another guy made him feel weird. A biting feeling befell him. He turned back to Jeremiah and tried to forget what he’d seen.

“Yes, we’ve hung out a couple of times.” Blaine had almost forgotten to answer Jeremiah’s question.

Jeremiah grinned. “Hung out like in...?”

“No, no,” Blaine interrupted him quickly, “not like that.”

Jeremiah looked surprised. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I just assumed you were gay as well, I shouldn’t have...”

Blaine’s heart was beating faster. The conversation was close to derailing. “I _am_ gay, but Sebastian and I are just friends.”

Jeremiah smiled and seemed relieved. “My apologies for jumping to conclusions so quickly. I just thought that Sebastian must really like you if he brought you here. He usually doesn’t bring other guys from Dalton.”

Blaine felt himself blush and was hoping that Jeremiah wouldn’t notice. “I’m new here and he said that people at Beaverton are more interesting than at Dalton.”

“That’s probably true,” Jeremiah agreed with a chuckle.

The more of his gin tonic Blaine drank, the more handsome Jeremiah seemed to become and the smoother the conversation went. Blaine’s eyes frequently wandered back to Sebastian and met his a couple of times, but seeing him flirt with other guys just made Blaine feel surprisingly bad, so he tried to focus on Jeremiah.

After his third drink, Blaine was feeling wonderfully carefree and elated. Increasingly forgetting where he was and what was happening around him, he started to dance with Jeremiah. The beat of the music was pleasantly permeating every cell in his body. There wasn’t much space between them, but neither of them dared touch the other. They just smiled at each other like the happy, drunk people they were. That is, Blaine was considerably drunk, Jeremiah not so much.

When Jeremiah asked him if he wanted to go out for some fresh air, Blaine was happy to get some more privacy with him. On the way out, Blaine shot Sebastian another look. He wasn’t flirting anymore and their eyes met briefly. Sebastian had a strangely dissatisfied expression on his face. 

Blaine didn’t have the time to wonder what was going on with Sebastian. Jeremiah had taken his hand and was leading him through the crowd towards the door.

Outside, they walked aimlessly for a few minutes. After turning a corner, they spotted a bench and decided that they needed a break after all the dancing. Without the jacket, it was rather chilly, but Blaine didn’t notice because of the pleasant buzz in his head and body.

“I really like it here. Do you think I can study at Beaverton?” Blaine asked with a dreamy smile. Jeremiah’s face, illuminated only by a distant street light, looked breathtakingly handsome.

Jeremiah laughed briefly and it sounded like a soothing melody to Blaine. “I’m sure you can. But I bet you will be sick of Westerville by the time you graduate.”

“I don’t think so. As long as there are people like you.” Blaine had no idea how to flirt, but he was already beyond losing control and everything was just happening somehow. The fact that Jeremiah was returning the smile had to be a good sign.

“Maybe you should consider Ohio State. It’s much bigger and there are definitely more gay men if that’s what you mean.”

Blaine chuckled. It was funny to him that he wasn’t even nervous in a situation like that. “No, that’s not what I mean. Sorry, I’m so bad at this.”

“What do you mean then?” Jeremiah asked with an insecure smile. When he looked into Blaine’s bright eyes, he seemed to understand and his smile confirmed that the attraction was mutual.

At that magic moment, Blaine was convinced that Jeremiah was the Prince Charming he had been looking for. All he could do was stare at his stunning beauty, while Jeremiah seemed to be considering what to do.

Finally, any insecurity and doubt vanished from Jeremiah’s expression. His eyes revealed the desire he had obviously been trying to suppress. Very slowly, he leaned in towards Blaine. 

Blaine’s gaze wandered to Jeremiah’s well-defined lips as they were coming closer. He closed his eyes in anticipation. 

“Hey Jay, you don’t really wanna get into trouble for hooking up with an underage high school student, do ya?”

Jeremiah and Blaine both pulled back at the same time and their heads shot around to the person who had interrupted them. 

Blaine had recognized the voice immediately. Sebastian was casually leaning against the wall of a nearby building. He was grinning, but his eyes were cold as ice.

Startled, Jeremiah stammered, “No, not really...” He looked at Blaine with a worried expression. “I’m sorry, I got carried away. I’m really sorry.” He got up from the bench. “I had fun tonight. Hope to see you again sometime,” Jeremiah said with an apologetic smile on his lips and vanished into the night.

When he was out of sight, Blaine jumped up from the bench and stormed towards Sebastian, stopping only a few feet in front of him. “What the hell? First you ignore me all night and then _this_? I thought you wanted to set me up with him,” he snapped, his voice shaking. He couldn’t believe that Sebastian had ruined this moment for him, especially after Blaine had had to watch him flirt with other guys all night.

Sebastian’s grin had faded. His face didn’t show any emotion. “Changed my mind. He’s not good enough for you.”

Blaine was so outraged, he didn’t know what to say. He felt as if the alcohol had just evaporated from his veins, more sober than ever and just as mad. Once again. “How the fuck would _you_ know what’s good for me and what’s not? And why do you even care?”

Sebastian did neither move nor reply.

“Screw you, Sebastian, seriously,” Blaine hissed. He wanted to leave. Sebastian had ruined an awesome night and Blaine just wanted to get away from it as far as possible. He started to walk in the direction he thought they had come from. Dalton wasn’t that far, so he was sure he would find the way.

When he was halfway to Dalton, Blaine noticed that he had left his coat at the party and it was pretty cold. He stopped and contemplated if he should go back. When he turned around, he saw a dark figure in the distance. Sebastian was following him.

Another rush of rage washed over Blaine. Since he didn’t want to risk another confrontation with Sebastian, he decided not to walk back to the university.

Back at Dalton, he snuck into a back entrance and went straight to his room. When he was finally alone, he collapsed on his bed. What a night. He couldn’t get the kiss that never happened out of his head. Jeremiah was so handsome and nice and maybe there could have been more if Sebastian hadn’t destroyed everything. Maybe they could have ended up as boyfriends eventually. Obviously that was no longer going to happen.

All of a sudden, the door opened and closed again and Sebastian was standing in Blaine’s room. He walked over to his bed and sat down next to him as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“What the...” Startled, Blaine sat up in his bed. “What are you doing here?”

Sebastian wasn’t looking at him. He didn’t answer either.

Blaine glared at Sebastian angrily. “I just don’t get you. Why did you even introduce me to him?”

“I didn’t know you’d be willing to make out with him five minutes after meeting him for the first time. You seemed more reluctant when _I_ tried to get into your pants.” Sebastian’s voice sounded bitter. “You were drunk and not acting like yourself. I was just looking out for you.”

Blaine felt like his blood was starting to boil. “Are you kidding me? Since when do I need _you_ to look out for me?”

Sebastian finally lifted his head and directed his gaze at Blaine. He looked inexplicably sad. “You didn’t have anyone to look out for you at your old school, so I thought it would be good if you had someone here.”

Blaine squinted his eyes in puzzlement. Slowly, he made the connection between Sebastian’s weird behavior at the end of the last Warbler meeting and what he’d just said. Lima Central. The dance. Sebastian knew about the attack.

Sebastian seemed to take from Blaine’s reaction that he had understood. “I’m sorry that I tried to force you to come out to me. That was really fucked up considering what happened to you. I didn’t know that you used to go to Lima Central. I thought you were some spoiled private school brat, considering your dad’s job. When you told Jesse that you went to Lima Central, I just knew that you were Aiden’s friend.”

Memories of the attack flashed before Blaine’s eyes and his heart started to beat faster. Sebastian knew. It took him a moment to wrap his head around the new situation. “How do you know about my dad? Wait... You know _Aiden_?” Blaine stared at him in shock.

A smile crossed Sebastian’s face. “Yeah. I’m from Lima, too, remember? And there aren’t that many gay guys our age, at least not openly gay. If you actively look for others, you’ll find them.” Sebastian lowered his gaze back to the floor. “I heard about the attack from a friend. He didn’t know the people involved, but I immediately knew that Aiden must have been one of the victims. I visited him at the hospital a couple of times.”

Blaine felt his chest tighten. His head was spinning and he was glad he was already sitting down, otherwise his legs would have probably given out. It wasn’t clear to him what exactly was causing the heavy reaction inside him. Being reminded of the attack was always painful, but the more shocking part was probably the revelation of another link between their lives. Not just any link. Aiden.

When Sebastian looked at him again, there was a melancholy in his eyes that Blaine hadn’t seen before. “You know, quite a while ago, he told me about a guy he liked. He was on top of the world when that guy finally came out of the closet.” Sebastian let out a bitter chuckle. “Aiden and I aren’t super close and he knew I wasn’t really interested in his puppy love gibberish, so he never mentioned the guy’s name. Now I know that he was talking about you.”

Blaine felt like his heart was breaking all over again. The feelings he’d had in that hospital room the last time he’d seen Aiden came rushing back. Guilt, regret, the excruciating pain of losing his best friend.

“He was pretty desperate by the time the attack happened. Did you really not know that he was into you?” Sebastian asked, carefully avoiding to show any emotions in his face.

Blaine couldn’t hold Sebastian’s gaze. “He was my best friend. I didn’t want to lose him.”

A cynical grin crossed Sebastian’s face. “Kudos. You’re potentially more selfish than me. Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.”

“I’m not!” Blaine hissed. “I’m not like you.”

“What am I like?”

Blaine tried to think of an appropriately snappy response, but when he looked into Sebastian’s eyes, his frustration and anger got tangled up with the butterflies that were inconveniently fluttering in his stomach. He had expected Sebastian to shield him off with his usual arrogant smirk, which seemed to make him invulnerable. Instead, Sebastian’s expression was serious. His dazzling eyes revealed an unfamiliar insecurity. He wanted an honest answer.

“You just take whatever you want. You don’t care how it makes others feel.” Blaine’s voice sounded exhausted. “That’s my definition of selfish. I think Aiden never told me about his feelings before the attack because he knew that I didn’t return them. Our friendship was doomed to fail, but we were _both_ pretending that we didn’t know that. It wasn’t easy for me either.”

There was a smile on Sebastian’s face that didn’t reach his eyes. “I appreciate your honesty. But while you’re at it, don’t you think that you’re doing the same again right now?”

Blaine wasn’t sure what Sebastian was getting at, but the butterflies in his stomach were beginning to brew up a storm. “What?”

“Pretend that you don’t know what’s happening.” Sebastian paused and it seemed to take him a lot of effort to continue. “The way you looked at me tonight when I was talking to the other guys... Man, I don’t know, you’re messing with my head.” Sebastian looked like he was regretting having revealed so much. He let out a sigh and started to rub his eyes as if he was tired.

Blaine’s pulse was racing now. Whatever Sebastian had meant, it had sounded an awful lot like a confession. “What do you mean?” he asked carefully.

“I don’t know.” Sebastian sounded frustrated. “I can just tell you what I want right now.”

Blaine was bracing himself for the worst. “What do you want?”

“I’m... Damn. I really want to kiss you right now.” He looked at Blaine with desperate, craving eyes. “May I?” It was barely a whisper.

At that moment, this simple question meant the world to Blaine. Sebastian was trying to prove him wrong. Instead of just taking what he wanted, he was being respectful. Somehow, Blaine seemed to matter to him.

Blaine nodded so lightly, it was barely visible, but Sebastian understood. With much more determination than Jeremiah, he leaned in and softly pressed his lips on Blaine’s. 

The kiss was very different from their first. Everything seemed to be happening in slow-motion and it was beautiful. The way Sebastian’s tongue was sliding against Blaine’s was less demanding and self-indulgent than before. It was gentle and caring. Sebastian’s left hand wandered to Blaine’s neck and his thumb softly caressed the skin under Blaine’s right ear.

Blaine was taken over by a comforting warmth. It was a sensation that was new to him. He hadn’t felt it when they had kissed before. This kiss was more intimate than anything he’d ever experienced. It was better than he’d ever imagined a kiss could be.

Completely lost in the moment, Blaine buried his left hand in Sebastian’s soft hair. His right hand slipped under Sebastian’s shirt. He pushed Sebastian back onto the bed, climbed on top of him and dove down to kiss him again. He knew that Jeremiah would have just been a distraction. All he wanted was Sebastian. All of him.

Suddenly, Blaine felt Sebastian’s hands press against his chest, lightly at first, but then hard enough to almost push him back. “Stop, honey, you gotta stop,” Sebastian mumbled between kisses and, finally, Blaine pulled back. Sebastian gently shoved Blaine off him and sat up on the bed.

When he saw Blaine’s irritated expression, he looked seriously crushed. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done this.”

Blaine couldn’t make any sense of Sebastian’s reaction. _But_ _I want you_ , he thought. All he could say was, “Why?”

The expression on Sebastian’s face was terribly blank. “It’s scary how well you know me already. As you said, I’m selfish and we’re not compatible. I think you got that right. I’m sorry for hitting on you without taking the time to find out if we want the same thing. I broke my own golden rule.” Sebastian smiled apologetically. “Must have lost control because you’re so fucking irresistible.” 

Blaine followed Sebastian’s monologue while feeling everything inside him crumble down.

Sebastian got up from the bed. “If we go any further, you’re just gonna hate yourself tomorrow and me even more. I kinda care about you, so I don’t want that to happen. Shouldn’t have asked you for that kiss, that was selfish, too.” Sebastian’s smirk was void of expression, like a mask.

“But I want you,” Blaine finally managed to say, driven by frustration and a desperate attempt to hold on to the incredible feeling he’d had while they’d been kissing.

Sebastian sighed. “I want you, too, baby, but...”

“Why the fuck didn’t you leave me alone with Jeremiah then?” Blaine was glaring at Sebastian fiercely. Frustration was turning into rage again.

Just for a second or two, Sebastian’s smirk faded and revealed the vulnerability that he had been careful not to show. “Obviously, because I’m a selfish bastard,” he snapped and stared at Blaine with resentment. He then left without another word.

That night at Dalton, there were two boys lying awake for hours. One of them was angry and disillusioned. The other one was terrified because he suddenly cared about someone other than himself.


	10. Spilling Tea

The following week, Blaine avoided Sebastian like the plague. After brooding for days over what had happened at the party, Blaine concluded that there was no way of understanding Sebastian’s logic.

The only explanation that made any sense to him was that Sebastian was pitying him. He knew that Blaine had been the victim of a hate crime and had probably decided not to risk hurting his feelings on top of that. In a way, the thought of Sebastian pitying him was more degrading and far worse than his obnoxious comments. Blaine just couldn’t take it.

This conclusion also tainted the memory of their kiss, no matter how perfect it had been. Unfortunately, Blaine could no longer deny that he was having feelings for Sebastian. Raw, amazing, agonizing feelings. He was doing his best to bury them somewhere under the resentment that was still simmering inside him as well.

The week passed quickly and, on the following weekend, all Blaine could remember was rehearsals with the Warblers and trying to avoid Sebastian wherever he went. 

On Saturday, Blaine decided to go back to the university dorms to look for his coat. When he entered the common room where the party had taken place, there were at least a dozen students hanging out. Luckily, Trish was among them, chatting with two friends. 

When she recognized him, she smiled from ear to ear and jumped up from the couch she had been lounging on. “Blaine! Hi! What brings you here?”

“Hi, good to see you. I forgot my coat after the party and I wanted to see if it’s still here,” Blaine replied with an embarrassed smile. He was still intimidated by Trish’s outgoing nature.

“I helped clean up afterwards, but I don’t remember seeing any coats. Unfortunately, jackets are popular items after a party, so chances are that somebody took it, but maybe somebody just moved it to our chamber of secrets. How about I help you look for it and then we go for a coffee? I’d love to get to know you better. Sebastian can’t shut up about you.”

Hardly surprised by her straightforward invitation, Blaine agreed and followed her to the other side of the building after she’d said bye to her friends.

They stopped in front of an unlocked door with a ‘lost and found’ sign on it. Behind it, there was a small storage room, filled with random items, from kitchen utensils to clothing to phone chargers.

“I hope you’re lucky and it’s somewhere on this heap,” Trish said as she pointed to the clothes piled up in a corner of the room.

It didn’t take Blaine long to find his coat... and Sebastian’s parka. He briefly considered leaving it there, but he couldn’t. He put on his coat and tucked the parka under his arm.

“Oh, that’s Sebastian’s, isn’t it? Nice of you to pick it up for him,” Trish commented with a cheerful smile. “Okay, now I need a coffee. I had green tea this morning, but it’s not quite the same.”

Trish led Blaine across the campus to the cafeteria. She ordered a black coffee for herself and a latte for Blaine and they sat down at a table by the window.

“How did you like the party?” Trish asked with a broad grin.

“It was awesome,” Blaine replied hesitantly. It felt incredibly weird and kind of wrong to hang out with one of Sebastian’s best friends.

Seemingly aware of his nervousness, Trish gave him an encouraging smile. “You looked like you were having fun with Jeremiah. He’s a good guy.”

Blaine felt himself blush. “Uhm... yeah, he’s nice. Did you study with him?”

“No, I know him from our group, just like Sebastian. I’m bi, just so you know.” Trish sipped on her coffee, but she quickly set it down again since it was still too hot to drink. “So how did it work out with Jeremiah and you? Sebastian isn’t exactly known for being a matchmaker, so I was a little worried about you guys.”

Blaine wished they could talk about something that wouldn’t make him blush. “Oh, uhm... I enjoyed hanging out with Jeremiah, but I don’t think we’ll pursue it further. Sebastian didn’t exactly think that through.”

Trish laughed. “That doesn’t surprise me.” 

They talked about this and that for at least an hour. Trish was incredibly nice and had some interesting views about political matters that Blaine had never thought about before. He learned more from her in a casual conversation than from his Politics teacher in a month. She also showed a strong interest in Blaine and asked many questions that he was happy to answer until the conversation drifted back to Sebastian.

“I’m so glad that Sebastian finally has a friend like you at Dalton,” Trish gushed with excitement. “You know, he has problems getting along with the other boys at school because he’s already so much more mature.”

Blaine tried to resist the urge to laugh and almost ended up choking on his latte. Two minutes of heavy coughing later, he managed to look at Trish again who had a sincerely worried expression on her face. “Sorry,” Blaine mumbled, still out of breath.

“I guess you don’t agree with me on that?” Trish asked suspiciously.

“No, I do agree with you,” Blaine said quickly. “He’s definitely more mature than most of the other guys.” Stealing cars, spray-painting dicks all over Westerville, setting people up just to ruin everything a few hours later... All of that didn’t seem very mature to Blaine, but these things were also secrets that only he and Sebastian shared.

“Oh, I know what you mean,” Trish said with a chuckle. “You mean his attitude towards relationships, right? I can see why some people would call it immature, but I don’t think it is. It’s just unconventional and he has his reasons. You probably talk a lot about guys, don’t you?”

Blaine’s eyes dropped to the table. He wanted to know more about Sebastian and about the things Sebastian would never tell him. So he lied. “Yeah, we do, actually.” He gave Trish a confident smile, acting as if he completely understood what she was talking about.

“You know what I think,” Trish said in a low, conspiratorial voice, “I think he’s catching feelings for someone, which is worse to him than catching an STD. Hasn’t he been giving you that vibe, too, lately?”

Suddenly, Blaine got a funny feeling in his stomach, but he knew that he had to stay cool and play along. “Yeah, definitely. I was thinking exactly the same thing.”

“I’m glad to hear that it’s not just me. He said something so weird the other day.”

“He constantly says weird things,” Blaine commented with a fake laugh. “What did he say this time?”

“He said he hasn’t hooked up with anyone in more than four weeks. Taking a break or something like that. As you know, that’s so unlike him. He used to brag about the guys he hooked up with, but he’s so secretive now. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Uhm... No, not really. He’s... very secretive about that, yeah,” Blaine stammered and gulped down the rest of his latte. His thoughts were running wild. Was Sebastian really catching feelings for somebody? An irrational rush of jealousy welled up inside him. But what if Sebastian was developing feelings for him?

Trish gave him a piercing look. “If I didn’t know that Sebastian and you were just friends, I’d think there was something going on between you two hotties. I think you’d make a cute couple.”

Blaine forced another laugh. “I’m sure Sebastian told you that we’re not... compatible. We don’t want the same things.”

“Come on,” Trish sighed. “Although I understand and secretly envy his lifestyle, I don’t think he’s incapable of being exclusive with someone again. He just got burned by some dude a long time ago.”

“He got burned?”

“Oh honey, I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but he once mentioned that a guy really messed with him. Anyways, don’t ask him about it. And don’t ask him if he currently likes anyone, but if you find something out, let me know. Oh, in case you’re wondering what kind of a friend I am for talking about Sebastian’s love life behind his back, he’s well aware of that and he’d happily do the same about mine. We just love each other in a crazy way and we both love gossip.” Trish winked at Blaine and finished her second coffee.

Blaine didn’t really get that kind of friendship, but there were many things about Sebastian he didn’t understand, so it was no surprise that his best friends were just as weird.

* * *

Back at Dalton, Blaine was met with a surprise. When he entered his room, Nick greeted him with a hug and a big smile.

“Hey man, good to see you. Sorry I didn’t text you in advance, but my comeback was kind of spontaneous. I was supposed to return on Monday, but I couldn’t stand staying with my family a day longer, so I convinced my dad to drive me back today.”

“It’s great to have you back!” Blaine was sincerely happy and even relieved about Nick’s return. He took off his coat and carelessly tossed it on his bed together with Sebastian’s parka. “How are you doing?”

“My parents were getting on my nerves, so I’m still a little stressed out, but, apart from that, I’m fine. Well, I won’t be able to play soccer for a few months, but Principal Lee informed me that I won’t lose my scholarship because of that. And I can’t participate in Sectionals, which really sucks, but I heard you guys are doing well without me.”

“Yeah, we basically finished the arrangement for all three songs and the choreography is done as well. We just need some more practice,” Blaine said, thinking of the step sequences he’d constantly messed up during the last practice.

“I heard you had a celebrity visitor.”

“Oh, Jesse? Wes thinks he wanted to spy.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “That sounds just like him. I wonder if he told his buddy Hunter to knock me out.”

A cold shiver ran down Blaine’s spine. “Do you think he would do something like that?”

“He’s known to be ruthless. Rats out competitors to the judges on a regular basis. And I bet Hunter is totally capable of harming the Warblers to help him. He’s pretty pissed that you got all the solos.”

“But why would he attack you then and not me?”

Nick shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe that would have been too obvious. Ugh, you know what, forget it. As I said, my parents were driving me crazy. It was probably just an accident. And I will fully recover.” He smiled at Blaine with his usual optimistic charm. “And what about you? How have you been doing? Did I miss anything?”

Blaine shook his head with a little too much determination. “No, not at all.”

“Oh really? Thad said you were at a party at Beaverton.”

Blaine was mildly shocked. “Wow, word gets around fast here.”

Nick chuckled. “You bet. I have to say I’m pretty jealous. Nobody ever invited me there. I heard you went with Sebastian. Are you guys close now?”

“Close? No, not really. He just wanted to introduce me to some people from the LGBT group,” Blaine explained quickly. He was feeling torn. Nick was probably the one person who he felt safe enough with to talk about Sebastian, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that.

“Sounds good. So if you have a Beaverton connection now, it would be awesome if I could tag along next time you go to a party.” 

Blaine let out a chuckle. “Because of the girls?”

“Because of the girls,” Nick confirmed with an embarrassed smile.

“Okay, I’ll let you know.” Blaine’s smile faded when his eyes wandered to Sebastian’s parka on his bed. “I gotta return this jacket. I’ll be right back.”

Nick nodded approvingly. “Sure, see you later.”

Blaine grabbed the parka and walked to Sebastian’s room. With a weird feeling in his gut, he knocked at the door. When he heard an annoyed-sounding “Come in,” he stepped into the room. Sebastian was lying on his bed reading a book. 

“What brings _you_ here?” he asked with a surprised look and put his book down. When he saw the parka in Blaine’s hand, he raised his eyebrows. “Oh, thanks for bringing that.”

Blaine threw the jacket on Sebastian’s bed and was already about to leave again because he had no idea what to say. There was nothing to say.

“Blaine, wait.” 

He turned back to Sebastian who was looking at him with a wavering expression on his face, biting his lower lip. 

Blaine’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Sebastian’s insecurity, but he managed to keep a straight face by focusing on how annoyed he was by Sebastian’s mood swings. “What?” he asked in a harsh tone.

“I was wondering if you can keep a secret.” Sebastian had a sheepish smile on his face.

Trish’s suspicion about Sebastian having feelings for someone crossed Blaine’s mind. His cold facade was slowly crumbling as his heart started to pound. “What secret? I mean... Yes, I can, as you should know after what we have done together.”

“Good point,” Sebastian admitted with a nervous chuckle. “So there’s this club at Dalton that I thought you might be interested in. But it’s top secret and you can’t tell anybody about it.”

That wasn’t the kind of secret Blaine had expected and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “But you can tell me about it?”

“I’m not supposed to, but I think you would be a good addition.”

Trish had been so right. Obviously, Sebastian was just as bad at keeping his mouth shut as she was. “Okay, so what kind of club is this?”

“Sports. I mean... boxing. Dalton has a Fight Club and we’re meeting next Wednesday for the first time this year. You should come. You do like punching people, right?” Sebastian was grinning, but he quickly looked down to the floor when he added, “and it’s good for self-defense, too.”

Although the last comment stung, Blaine had to admit that Sebastian was right. He’d been thinking about taking up some kind of martial art, but boxing didn’t sound bad either. 

The only problem was that Blaine had decided to stay away from Sebastian. But now that he was right in front of him, Sebastian’s magnetic energy was pulling him in again. He couldn’t say no.

“Sounds alright. But if you’re not supposed to talk about this Fight Club either, what will the other members think if I just show up?”

Sebastian seemed to be relieved that Blaine wasn’t entirely averse to the idea. Suddenly, he had a broad grin on his face again. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m a well-respected member and they’ll appreciate anyone I nominate. A few members graduated last year, so we need new ones. Also, Hunter owes me.”

“What does Hunter have to do with that?” Blaine surely wasn’t eager to spend more time with him.

“He’s more or less the leader or captain or whatever. If you have beef with him, Fight Club would offer you the perfect occasion to beat the crap out of him. Doesn’t that sound awesome?”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. He’s much bigger than me.”

“Come on, you gotta have faith in your skills. I can truthfully say that you can punch above your weight class. Now that I think about it, I can’t wait to see you go at these guys, babe. It would be such a turn-on.” Sebastian had finally remembered how to act like an asshole.

In a frustrated tone, Blaine snapped, “Don’t call me that. And don’t say something like that. You know what, I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to go there.” He’d already turned around to leave, when he felt Sebastian’s hand on his shoulder. He must have jumped up from his bed in a split second.

“Blaine... I’m sorry. Please come.” 

When Blaine turned around to face Sebastian, the sheepish smile on his face was back and so were the butterflies in Blaine’s stomach. He just couldn’t say no.

Blaine sighed audibly. “Okay. When and where?”

“Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the gym. If anyone asks, you’re trying out for the Capoeira Club, which obviously doesn’t exist. But Dalton doesn’t allow any contact sports except for ball games because they’re afraid of getting sued by rich parents, so we need some kind of cover.”

“Alright, I’ll be there.” Being so close to Sebastian, Blaine had difficulties to stay cool. His focus jumped back and forth between Sebastian’s soft lips and his beautiful eyes.

“Perfect,” Sebastian said with a smirk. “Oh, and thanks again for the jacket. I’m also glad to hear that you’re getting along with Trish.”

 _Of course_ , Blaine thought. She had probably told Sebastian about their conversation the minute he had left the campus. “She’s nice. And talkative.”

Sebastian laughed. “I can imagine what she told you. I may have to kill her. But you know, she’s a good soul. She just wants the best for everybody. Always trying to talk sense into me even though she knows it’s pointless.” He looked embarrassed for a moment, but his smirk soon covered up any insecurities again. “Anyways, you should leave now, ba-... Blaine. Your presence in this room is making me horny and since making out with you is somehow off the table, I’ll have to watch porn now. See ya.” 

Once Blaine had left the room, he heard the door being locked behind him. “Idiot,” Blaine mumbled, still puzzled by the two faces Sebastian had shown him within only a few minutes. Apparently, Sebastian could be insecure, almost shy... downright _cute_. And seconds later, he would be the usual jerk. It was driving Blaine up the wall.

Although hitting Hunter didn’t sound bad, Blaine was actually hoping to get the chance to punch Sebastian instead. Right in his dirty, kissable mouth.


	11. What Happens In Fight Club

Ten young men had gathered in the gym for the first secret Fight Club meeting of the school year. Among them, Blaine only knew Sebastian and Hunter. There was also Eric, the guy with the dreadlocks whom he had seen at the party, but Blaine didn’t recognize the other six. 

Knowing two of the guys was bad enough. Blaine wished he didn’t know any of them because he was sure that he would make a fool of himself. They were all taller than him, some of them also quite a bit more broad-shouldered. There was no way he could win a fight against any of them.

“Is everybody here now or do we have to wait for more people who were invited to join us despite our first rule?” Hunter asked impatiently.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. We needed new members and here they are. They wouldn’t have come if we hadn’t told them what this silly club is about. I bet they were all carefully selected. I, for my part, brought someone I’ve seen fight before and he clearly has potential.” He winked at Blaine who was standing next to him.

“I’m sure he does. I bet there’s nothing this smurf can’t do,” Hunter snarled with a condescending look at Blaine.

Blaine’s jaw dropped. “Did you just call me...?”

“So it looks like we can start then,” Hunter interrupted him loudly. “The Dalton Fight Club has been around for more than ten years and the reason for that is our rule number one: Don’t talk about Fight Club. For anyone who doesn’t know yet, we’re officially the Dalton Capoeira Club. Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art in which you don’t touch your opponent. It looks a bit like a dance. Please educate yourselves in case someone asks you about what we do in this club.”

Blaine’s muscles were tense with anger. Hunter was an arrogant prick who may or may not have injured Nick because Jesse told him to. Although Nick had asked him to forget his suspicion, Blaine couldn’t get the image out of his head. It seemed so plausible. Blaine couldn’t wait to fight Hunter. No matter how much bigger Hunter was, he would fight until the last drop of blood...

“There aren’t that many other rules,” Hunter continued in a serious tone, “but you have to stick to all of them, otherwise we will kick you out and erase your memories.”

Two of the other guys looked seriously shocked after hearing that threat, causing Hunter to burst into laughter. “Look at these greenhorns, how hilarious... I was kidding. Except about the part where we kick you out and make your life at Dalton a living hell.” He gave the two new guys and Blaine a spiteful look.

“We only have one and a half hours for each meeting, so chances are that not everybody gets to fight every time. Feel free to practice in your spare time. If you’ve read the book or seen the movie that inspired this club, you probably already know that we fight with our bare hands and without shirts and shoes. There’s only one fight at a time, there’s no time limit, and a fight is over when someone gives up or when it’s just...  _ obvious _ that it’s over. You’ll get a feeling for it. And the most important rule: Everything above the neckline is off-limits. We can’t risk visible injuries, especially not in the face. And it probably goes without saying that it would be nice if you didn’t smash each other’s nuts. But that’s just common sense. Any questions?”

Nobody said anything, so Hunter turned to Sebastian with a mean grin on his face. “How about we start with an experienced fighter and,” he turned to Blaine, “a newcomer? It’s been a while since I’ve seen two Warblers fight.”

Taken by surprise, Blaine’s head shot around to Sebastian. He hadn’t expected his first fight to come so soon, and especially not against Sebastian.

Sebastian’s face mirrored exactly what Blaine was feeling. He was staring at Hunter with a mixture of bewilderment and animosity. 

“I was the one who asked Blaine to join the club, so that would be absurd,” Sebastian said in a derogatory tone. 

Hunter looked as if he’d achieved exactly what he wanted. “I don’t see what’s absurd about that. I’m sure you wouldn’t have asked him to join if you didn’t actually want to  _ fight _ him, considering this is a fight club. Who wants to see these Warblers fight?”

Everybody but Sebastian and Blaine silently raised their hands. It had been decided.

“Alright then, shirts and shoes off. Have fun,” Hunter commanded with a disgusting smirk and sat down on the floor to watch the fight. The other guys followed his lead and Sebastian and Blaine were suddenly standing in the middle of a circle.

Sebastian still looked pissed, but when his eyes met Blaine’s, his expression seemed, above all, apologetic. He took off his shoes, socks and shirt and tossed them behind himself.

Blaine did the same, but he was strongly considering running away. He had wanted to punch Sebastian, but that urge had somehow vanished into thin air. Now that Sebastian was standing in front of him, looking incredibly hot and so obviously uncomfortable with having to fight him, Blaine had difficulties focusing on why he had wanted to punch him.

On the other hand, Blaine was having a hard time trying to understand why Sebastian looked as if he didn’t want to fight him. Was it because he had feelings for him? Or because he was pitying him? It had to be the latter. Sebastian didn’t want to hurt Blaine because he knew about the attack. 

This seemingly logical conclusion and his hurt pride drove Blaine to lunge at Sebastian and throw the first punch. He hit Sebastian’s chest and ribs again and again. At first, Sebastian didn’t even defend himself. Eventually, he pushed Blaine away, but he didn’t really throw any punches and the few that he did throw didn’t land. 

Blaine, however, didn’t stop. Sebastian had invited him to that club. He had wanted him to fight, so that’s what he’d do. Although something inside Blaine made him feel like it was entirely wrong to hurt Sebastian, another part of him wanted to do exactly that. Sebastian had been responsible for most of the frustration that had been building up inside him and now he was finally able to release it.

Blaine’s fist landed on Sebastian’s collarbone and made him gasp. They ended up on the floor, Blaine on top, raging and punching, Sebastian half-heartedly fighting back. Blaine had forgotten where they were and didn’t even realize that the other guys were cheering him on.

When Blaine finally looked into Sebastian’s eyes below him, all he saw was hurt and desperation. Startled, he stopped fighting and just knelt above Sebastian, breathing hard.

“Okay, stop, I can’t watch this!” Hunter jumped up and stepped up to them with an angry look on his face. “This, everybody, was an example of how not to do it. For fuck’s sake, Sebastian! What the hell was that? I bet Wes will be proud of you for trying not to damage our popstar, but you made yourself look  _ very _ bad. Damn. And just so you know, Blaine, you didn’t win. I wouldn’t even call that a fight. Just sit down and watch some real men show you how it’s done. Eric, Dan, you’re next.”

Bathed in sweat and still out of breath, Blaine and Sebastian got up, grabbed their clothes and sat down on the floor next to the others, as far apart from each other as possible.

Blaine’s head was spinning and he was trying hard to tame his thoughts. His aggression, fuelled by the assumption that Sebastian had been going light on him out of pity, slowly faded. Did that even make any sense? Sebastian had asked him to join the club. If he was pitying him because of the attack, he wouldn’t have done that, knowing that Blaine would eventually be punched by someone. It  _ didn’t _ make any sense. Maybe Trish was right. Maybe Sebastian had caught feelings... for him.

It was impossible for Blaine to pay attention to the other fights. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes off Sebastian who looked just as crushed as after their last kiss. Sebastian was avoiding eye contact and kept staring at the floor.

Back in the locker room, Blaine saw Sebastian head towards the showers and followed him. Sebastian ignored Blaine and stepped into one of the private shower stalls, so Blaine decided to take a quick shower as well. 

While the hot water was running down Blaine’s body, his thoughts were still running wild. He was afraid that Sebastian was mad at him. But how could he be? He had invited Blaine to join the club. And the point of that club was fighting, which he’d done, maybe even better than expected. It wasn’t his fault that Hunter had paired him up with Sebastian.

Sebastian was taking his time, so Blaine dallied as well. When they returned to the locker room, all of the other guys had left already, probably to take a shower at the dorms.

Blaine quickly put his pants back on and turned towards Sebastian who was still ignoring him. Blaine’s eyes wandered from the huge white towel wrapped around Sebastian’s hips up to his naked torso. There were several fresh bruises on his chest, ribs and collarbone.

After a short hesitation, Blaine gathered his courage and stepped up to Sebastian. “Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

Sebastian looked at him with an indefinable expression. “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

“A while ago, you told me not to punch you, but I did it anyways.” Blaine looked at Sebastian’s bruises with regret.

Surprisingly, a smile crossed Sebastian’s face. “You’re not supposed to punch me in real life. This is Fight Club. What happens in Fight Club, stays in Fight Club. It doesn’t matter. You were pretty good, by the way.”

Blaine stepped closer to Sebastian. He felt an overwhelming urge to touch the red marks on Sebastian’s skin and reached out his hand. Sebastian winced when Blaine’s fingers touched the bruised spot on his ribs.

“What happens in Fight Club stays in Fight Club?” Blaine asked with a low voice and gazed up into Sebastian’s eyes. 

Sebastian looked confused and nervous. “Yeah,” he confirmed, but it almost sounded like a question.

Blaine felt as if he was under a strange spell. His eyes drifted down to Sebastian’s bruised collarbone, which was almost on the same level as Blaine’s mouth since Sebastian was a few inches taller than him. Blaine looked at the red mark, filled with regret for hurting Sebastian but also with an extreme longing that had continuously intensified during the past weeks. Without thinking about it twice, he leaned in and gently pressed his lips on the bruise.

Blaine felt Sebastian’s body tense. When he turned his head to rest his cheek on Sebastian’s collarbone, he heard him whisper, “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find out if you pity me... or if you like me,” Blaine whispered back. His heart was beating fast as he waited for Sebastian’s reaction. For a moment that felt like forever, nothing happened.

Then, all of a sudden, Blaine felt Sebastian’s warm hands on his back, pulling him close. Sebastian buried his face in Blaine’s wet curls and breathed in deeply. 

After a minute or so, Blaine slowly pulled away and lifted his head to look into Sebastian’s eyes. He still saw the same insecurity in them that he had seen the other day, but Sebastian was smiling at him with a marvelous warmth. There was no pity in his expression. Instead, there was genuine affection.

A strange feeling rushed through Blaine. It was like a pleasant electric current that made his heart jump. It felt almost like a high. The chemicals in his body were out of control. He was falling for Sebastian, falling hard. 

As if pulled by a magnet, Blaine leaned in. His lips met Sebastian’s in a slow, passionate kiss. 

Blaine savored it all. The feeling of Sebastian’s velvety lips. His warm, wet tongue gently twirling around his own. His taste, his smell, the sound of their lips.

Sebastian’s hands slid down Blaine’s back to cup his ass as he had done a couple of weeks ago, when they’d kissed for the first time just outside this building. Blaine could feel that Sebastian was just as hard under his towel as he was in his pants. 

When his hands wandered down to the towel, Sebastian grabbed them and pulled away from the kiss. Blaine protested and kept seeking his lips, but Sebastian stood up tall so Blaine couldn’t reach them.

“I think the gym will be locked soon. We should get going,” Sebastian said with a sheepish smile.

“Okay,” Blaine replied, slightly out of breath. He wasn’t sure what was happening. A sinking feeling overcame him. Sebastian was probably trying to shut him out again.

They put on their clothes as fast as they could and hurried to the dorms. When they got up to their floor, they stopped in the hallway. Sebastian had an undecided, bashful look on his face. 

Blaine’s heart was pounding. He was bracing himself for the arrogant smirk and some terrible, disrespectful line that would make the memory of their kiss bitter and regrettable.

But to Blaine’s surprise, neither happened. Instead, after hesitating for a few seconds, Sebastian took Blaine’s hand and led him to his room. Inside, he locked the door behind them and looked at Blaine as if he still didn’t know what to do. 

Amused by Sebastian’s fear of doing something wrong, Blaine grinned at him, grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards the bed. He ended up on top of Sebastian, kissing him more hungrily and deeply than before.

There was a heat and a longing inside Blaine that felt stronger than ever. He unbuttoned his shirt impatiently and yanked it off himself, while Sebastian was doing the same below him. As they were kissing, Blaine let his hands wander over Sebastian’s chest, careful not to touch any of the bruises. His hands quickly made their way down to Sebastian’s pants.

Sebastian was kissing Blaine back eagerly, but he didn’t dare do anything else, so it was Blaine who opened both their pants and pulled them off. The only pieces of clothing remaining on their bodies were their boxer briefs and, under those, they were both hard again.

When they were kissing again, Sebastian suddenly laid a hand on Blaine’s cheek and gently pushed him back to look him in the eyes. “Are you sure you want to go further than this?” Sebastian asked with a questioning smile.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You’ve been teasing me with your skills and broad experience for quite a while now,” Blaine replied with a chuckle. His body was aching for Sebastian. He felt ready for anything.

“Uhm... About that...” Sebastian stammered. “I think I should mention that I... I got tested after last time and I’m all clean... and it’s been a while since...”

“Oh god, spare me the details, please,” Blaine said quickly.

“What? I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but I want you to know that I’m a responsible person. Also, I have this golden rule and that’s actually one reason why I don’t know if we should...”

Blaine frowned. “Isn’t your golden rule about how everything is okay as long as nobody gets hurt and everyone involved wants the same thing?”

Sebastian nodded with a timid smile on his lips.

“So what’s the problem? I’m pretty sure we both want the same thing, even if you’d probably never admit it.” Blaine beamed at Sebastian again whose eyes gradually turned softer, his smile more confident and sincere.

“You do know me well, don’t you?” Sebastian grinned and it almost looked like he was blushing.

“Maybe I got a hint from a redheaded girl who has known you a little longer.” Blaine lowered his head to kiss him again. After another minute of kissing, he lay down next to Sebastian and smiled at him sheepishly. “I’m... uhm... I’ve never done anything like this before. Why aren’t you taking over?”

Sebastian avoided Blaine’s eyes. “I’ve never done it with someone I... with someone like you. It’s different. Are you  _ really _ sure you want to... get more intimate?”

Blaine couldn’t suppress a laugh. “Do you even hear yourself? Not that long ago, you told me that we’re compatible because my dick fits...”

Sebastian quickly pressed his mouth on Blaine’s and silenced him with his tongue. He pushed Blaine back and climbed on top of him. “That was me trying to deal with... stuff,” he mumbled between kisses. Without further hesitation, he lifted himself up and pulled his boxer briefs down, revealing his swollen cock and balls. 

Blaine gasped for air at the sight of Sebastian towering over him, his naked body the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. His pulse was racing with anticipation.

Sebastian grinned when he saw Blaine’s reaction. “Do you like what you see?”

Blaine nodded, incapable of moving any other part of his body.

Sebastian hooked a finger in the waistband of Blaine’s boxer briefs. “May I?” he asked, carefully observing Blaine’s craving eyes. When Blaine nodded eagerly, Sebastian slowly removed the last piece of clothing and his eyes went wide with excitement when he saw Blaine’s erect cock. “Just as beautiful as I expected... just like the rest of you,” he whispered, settled his right hand around Blaine’s length and started to stroke it.

Blaine let out a moan and when Sebastian lowered himself back down to kiss him again, he thought that his body couldn’t feel any better. But Sebastian had more in store for him. He let go of Blaine’s cock and grabbed a bottle of lube from his nightstand. He applied some of it on the underside of his shaft and aligned it with Blaine’s. Sebastian leaned forward, pressed their cocks together with the weight of his body and started to hump.

As their dicks were sliding against each other, Sebastian kissed Blaine again until their heavy breathing made it almost impossible to keep their lips on each other. Sebastian briefly stroked his shaft with his right hand to get some lube on his palm and then wrapped his hand around both their cocks to intensify the friction.

The feeling of the hard dick grinding against his inside of the firm grip of Sebastian’s hand made Blaine’s brain turn into mush. But it wasn’t just the extremely addictive sensation that made him feel like he was losing his mind. It was also the realization of what was happening. Sebastian. More mesmerizing than ever. Suddenly vulnerable and confiding. Kissing him. Rubbing his cock against his, knowing exactly which spot to hit.

Sebastian lifted his head and looked into Blaine’s eyes. Blaine almost couldn’t believe that what he was experiencing was real. Sebastian looked so handsome. The affection in his eyes was so thrilling. The feeling he was giving Blaine was so incredibly good.

Soon, the pleasure building up inside Blaine was just too much to bear. When he came, he felt an explosion of bliss fill his entire body. Seeing the streaks of semen shoot out of Blaine’s cock was such a turn-on for Sebastian that he came shortly after, adding to the sticky white mess on Blaine’s belly.

Sebastian collapsed next to Blaine, buried his face in a pillow and started to laugh. Blaine, still high on his orgasm, wasn’t exactly sure what was so funny. “Is everything okay?” he asked with a confused chuckle.

Sebastian lifted his head and smiled at Blaine warmly. “I’m sorry, it’s just... That felt really fucking amazing. And I used to think that frotting is the lamest type of sex you can have. Turns out it can be the hottest thing if you do it with the right guy.” Sebastian looked at him with a happy, dreamy expression on his face that made Blaine’s heart speed up again. “Gosh, babe, I can’t believe we did this...”

They cleaned the mess off Blaine’s belly and continued to kiss and cuddle for quite a while. Blaine was getting sleepy, but he didn’t want to sleep. He wanted that night to last forever. 

Eventually, an embarrassed smile appeared on Sebastian’s face and he went silent for a moment before asking, “Do you wanna stay?”

A fear that had still been inside Blaine, somewhere deep down, disappeared instantly. Sebastian hadn’t just used him. He wasn’t kicking him out right after getting off. He wanted Blaine to spend the night. 

Blaine was feeling giddy with happiness. “I’d really like to stay,” he whispered and kissed Sebastian again. Everything felt so, so right.

* * *

In the middle of the night, Blaine woke up covered in sweat, breathing heavily. Initially, he didn’t know where he was, but everything came back to him when he heard Sebastian’s sleepy yet worried voice next to him.

“Blaine? Are you okay?”

Blaine tried to organize his thoughts and feelings that were running amok inside him. A nightmare. He’d had a nightmare again. Jocks running after him, catching him, beating him. 

He tried to slow down his breath. “I had a nightmare. I had nightmares all summer, but they kind of disappeared after I got to Dalton. Maybe Fight Club subconsciously triggered some memories of... you know.”

Sebastian moved closer to Blaine and laid his arm around him. “It’s okay, hon. Everything is fine. I’m here with you.” He kissed Blaine gently on his lips.

The heavy, uncomfortable feeling caused by the nightmare faded. Blaine turned his back towards Sebastian and pressed his body against him. Sebastian pulled Blaine close and nestled his face in Blaine’s curls. Blaine could feel Sebastian’s hard cock press against his ass.

“Sorry about that,” Sebastian mumbled into Blaine’s curls sleepily. “I must have been dreaming of you...”

Soon, Blaine could feel Sebastian’s even breathing only inches behind his ear. He was already asleep again. The warmth of Sebastian’s naked body against his was so soothing that Blaine quickly forgot that he’d ever had nightmares. As he drifted back into sleep, he realized that, after a long time, he was finally feeling safe again.


	12. Roller Coaster

Blaine woke up before Sebastian. He blinked his eyes open slowly. Daylight was already creeping in behind the curtains.

When he turned to Sebastian and remembered what had happened, his pulse sped up in excitement. He closed his eyes to relive the wonders of the past night. In a way, it all had been like a dream come true. The kisses, the sex, the spooning after his nightmare... Everything had been perfect.

He pictured how this dream could continue. Sebastian would wake up soon, smile at the sight of him and kiss him gently. It would be so perfect again.

But then, fear slowly crept up on him. What if that wasn’t going to happen? Sebastian was unpredictable. What if he was already regretting what had happened? Blaine spent the next twenty long minutes staring either at Sebastian or the ceiling, trying to keep his anxiety under control.

Sebastian was rudely awakened by his phone alarm. It took him about fifteen terrible seconds to find his phone next to the bed and turn the alarm off. 

Only after that, Sebastian noticed that Blaine was lying next to him. For a moment, Sebastian looked startled and it seemed to take him a few seconds to recollect the memories of the past night. 

Blaine greeted him with a tentative smile. The brief expression of shock on Sebastian’s face seemed to confirm his fears and it took him all he had to suppress the panic inside him. “Good morning,” Blaine said in a careful, low tone.

“Morning, babe,” Sebastian finally mumbled, rubbed his eyes and sat up.

When the blanket slipped off Sebastian’s chest, Blaine caught sight of the bruises that had already darkened. “Oh my god... I’m so sorry for that,” he said regretfully.

Sebastian stretched his arms above his head and looked down at himself before putting on _the smirk_. “Oh, no worries. You already made up for that by finally letting me play with your dick again. I wish we had time for another round now.”

Disappointment crashed down on Blaine like a wave. He had wanted Sebastian to kiss him. Instead, Sebastian was being an insensitive idiot again, who had nothing on his mind but sex. With the intention to get out of bed, Blaine sat up as well. “Me too... But we gotta get ready for class.”

“That’s lame. You’re lame,” Sebastian assessed and looked at Blaine’s naked chest. “But also so damn hot...” He leaned in towards him and forced his tongue into Blaine’s mouth. His right hand slipped under the blanket and started to shamelessly grope Blaine’s balls.

Blaine quickly clutched Sebastian’s wrist, pulled it away from his crotch and turned his head so Sebastian couldn’t reach his lips. “Stop, Sebastian, please...”

Sebastian gave him an annoyed look. “I thought we were beyond that coy act of yours.”

“And I thought we were beyond that asshole act of yours,” Blaine glared at him with disgust. “I didn’t sleep with you to make up for the bruises. You know that. Why do you have to act again like all you want is to fuck?”

“Maybe fucking is all I’m good for.” Sebastian snapped and looked surprisingly hurt. “I’m not exactly used to waking up next to someone. I’ve woken up next to you twice and I apparently blew it both times, so maybe that’s just what you get. I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want you to be like you were last night,” Blaine said with a broken voice. His desperation was written all over his face.

“Oh god, you sound like a whiny drama queen. I think you watched too many Disney movies. I’m not gonna be your fucking Prince Charming at the flick of a switch. Why do we even have to have a conversation like this? Before breakfast? Seriously? I’m starving.” Sebastian sounded annoyed and didn’t seem to care that his words were hitting Blaine way harder than his fists did during their fight.

Blaine felt himself trembling and closed his eyes. Sebastian was well on the way to making him angry again, but he somehow managed to keep his frustration under control. Blaine had won so much with his bold move the previous night and wasn’t willing to lose it again so soon. He looked at Sebastian with determination. “Wouldn’t you agree that last night was amazing? I’m not going to let you ruin this.”

Sebastian was about to say something in his defense, but Blaine stopped him with a slow, gentle kiss on his lips. When Sebastian joined in without the force he had used earlier, Blaine finally felt like Sebastian might actually have been the person he had spent the night with. 

Blaine pulled away, looked Sebastian in the eyes and tried to figure out what was going on behind them. They were not as defensive and cool anymore as they had been a minute ago. Blaine could tell that it wasn’t easy for Sebastian to hold his gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Sebastian said with a serious expression on his face.

Sebastian didn’t have to say more than those two and a half words to make Blaine understand what was going on inside him. Blaine knew that it would Sebastian take much longer to accept what was happening between them.

Yet, Sebastian had more to say. “Last night _was_ amazing. But I truly don’t know how to act around you. It’s obviously my problem, not yours. I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

A soothing feeling of relief began to calm Blaine down. “No, I completely overreacted earlier. _I’m_ sorry.”

“Alright. So... we’re good?” Sebastian had a sheepish smile on his lips that made the last of Blaine’s uneasiness fade away. 

“We’re good.” Blaine smiled happily, climbed on Sebastian’s lap on top of the blanket and kissed him again.

“Fuck, Blaine,” Sebastian cursed when their lips separated. “You’re sitting on top of me, naked, and expect me not to think about sex. That’s physically impossible. The fact that I _like_ you doesn’t make me less turned on, quite the contrary. I hope that doesn’t hurt your feelings.”

Blaine couldn’t believe his ears. It was a _fact_ . Sebastian _liked_ him. “It doesn’t,” he said with a flattered smile and flushed cheeks. “But I think we really have to get up now.” 

“No,” Sebastian countered playfully and wrestled Blaine down until he was on top of him, pinning him down to the bed. “I don’t wanna let you go,” he said grinning and kissed Blaine again.

Blaine laughed and gently pushed Sebastian away from him. “You have to. But I’ll be back, okay?”

“Okay,” Sebastian whispered with a smile that made Blaine’s heart jump. After another quick kiss, he let Blaine get up to throw on his pants and shirt. 

“I’m gonna go and change my clothes. See you at breakfast?”

Sebastian nodded, still sitting in bed, smiling.

As Blaine walked back to his room, he was feeling incredibly elated. He was aware that there was still a chance that Sebastian might try to back out, but Blaine decided to ignore that thought and rather focus on the fact that he’d had a wonderful night with Sebastian.

When he entered his room, Nick was standing in front of the mirror styling his hair. 

He turned around to Blaine in surprise. “There you are. I wasn’t sure if I should be worried.”

“Oh sorry...” Blaine didn’t know how to explain his absence. “I just spent the night elsewhere.”

“ _Elsewhere_ , I see,” Nick replied with a chuckle and continued combing his hair.

Blaine contemplated if he should say more. He was bubbling over with happiness and wanted to tell the world. On the other hand, he didn’t even know if Nick would care about the news. Finally, he pulled himself together and decided to share it.

“I was with Sebastian,” he said and didn’t quite get why his heart was beating so fast.

Blaine could see Nick raising his eyebrows in the mirror. He didn’t look all too surprised though. “Interesting. I guess that guy always wins in the end.”

“It’s not like that,” Blaine said quickly.

Nick turned around to face him. “It’s not my business, but don’t come to me whining about it later. I’ll just say I told you so.”

In his state of euphoria, Blaine felt slightly offended by Nick’s underwhelming reaction. “Care to elaborate?”

Sighing, Nick picked up his tie from the bed and tied it around his neck. “My former roommate, the one before you, left Dalton because Sebastian broke his heart. By the way, I guess that’s also why they paired us up. I mean because they knew I’m cool with having a gay roommate. Anyways, he - his name is Connor - fell for Sebastian and that asshole had nothing better to do than to use him. And, of course, I - being the good roommate that I am - had to deal with it and give one pep talk after another. I really liked Connor and it sucked that he left just because of that jerk. The only good thing about it is that you’re my new roomie and I like you, too. And that’s why I _really_ don’t want the story to repeat itself.”

An eerie shiver ran down Blaine’s spine and he desperately tried to cling to the positive excitement he had been feeling. “What do you mean Sebastian used him?”

“He took advantage of Connor, you know... sexually. I think he knew exactly that Connor was in love with him. Obviously, it was Connor’s own fault, too, because he should have stayed away from Sebastian. It wasn’t a secret that Sebastian was hooking up with other guys and that he didn’t want a relationship or anything.”

So Sebastian had broken his golden rule before. Blaine couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Still, he didn’t want to let go of the good feeling entirely. “I think that has changed... about Sebastian,” Blaine said in a low voice.

Nick laughed half-heartedly. “I’m not saying people can’t change. Come to think of it, unlike you, Connor was never invited to stay the night. But I still think you should be careful. You deserve a good guy. For all I know, Sebastian isn’t a good guy.”

There was a sudden queasiness in Blaine’s stomach. “But do you even know him?”

“Not really. I’ve never had the urge to hang out with him. I feel like I’ve heard enough about him to make a judgement. But you know, you should probably make your own experiences. Maybe I’m just jealous because you’re getting laid.” Nick raised his eyebrows and smiled with a bitterness that Blaine hadn’t seen on him yet. “I’ll go and have breakfast. See you downstairs?”

Blaine nodded mechanically. “Yeah, see you downstairs... And thanks for the warning, but I think I can handle it.”

Nick patted him on the shoulder and his smile looked a little happier than before. “Alright, I’m sure you can. And don’t get me wrong, I’m here to talk if you ever feel like it.”

“Thank you,” Blaine said again with a forced smile on his lips. 

When Nick had left, Blaine listlessly changed his clothes. He was feeling drained from the roller coaster ride the morning had already been and it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. His feelings had become so weirdly contradicting that he almost felt physically sick.

On the one hand, Blaine was on top of the world because Sebastian had not only shown him that he liked him, he had even said it. But he was also mad at himself for freaking out just because Sebastian’s smirk and his sexual advances that morning had been reminiscent of his old habits.

Blaine couldn’t even exactly pin down what his fear had been all about. Being taken advantage of? Finding out that Sebastian’s affection for him had only been a product of his own imagination? Ending up alone again after already having lost his best friend?

As he was looking into the mirror, gelling his hair, he suddenly froze and stared at his face. _I really am a train wreck_ , he thought and hoped that Sebastian would never find out how broken he was. 

All summer long, he’d been numb, suppressing any kind of emotion, and now his feelings were running haywire. He had no clue how to deal with them and caught himself thinking that maybe he _could have been_ better at this point if his dad hadn’t sent him to the wrong kind of therapist. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking and nobody was able to help him.

 _Get yourself together, Blaine_. He looked at his weak smile in the mirror. He wouldn’t let his mental health, or lack thereof, wreck what he could have with Sebastian. He’d be more chill and go with the flow and be open-minded and, above all, optimistic - which wasn’t so easy after what Nick had told him.

Blaine turned to his bed and tried to picture Connor, whatever he looked like. Suddenly, he realized that Nick’s story was probably the main reason for the awful feeling in his stomach. Everything about it felt so awkward. The guy who had previously slept in his bed had been in love with Sebastian. Not only that. He’d had sex with him and had been used by him. Blaine realized that his very own roommate probably knew way more about Sebastian from hearing Connor’s stories than he did.

Still, Blaine managed to shake the doubts that had crept up on him during the conversation with Nick. Sebastian was different now, at least to him. Sebastian liked him and whatever the Connor story was saying about his character, there was no need for Blaine to be worried. Or was there?

Blaine missed breakfast and ended up only gulping down a granola bar. He wasn’t able to pay attention to his teachers at all that morning and was glad when it was time for the lunch break.

When Blaine entered the dining hall, he immediately caught sight of Sebastian who waived him over to take a seat next to him. He had been chatting with Eric and both already seemed to have finished their lunch. Blaine joined them with a racing heart and smiled apologetically at Nick when he looked over. It was the first time that Blaine wasn’t sitting at Nick’s table.

“Good day, sir. You must have had a fabulous night, you look so well-rested,” Sebastian greeted him with a cheeky grin. 

“Sure did,” Blaine mumbled and dug into his pasta, hoping that Sebastian would leave him in peace as long as his mouth was full.

“That’s no surprise. My parents had that mattress custom-made.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine could see that Eric was looking at them with a puzzled expression until it seemed to dawn on him. “Oh, you two are a thing. Sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll just go, I’m done anyways,” Eric said with an embarrassed smile, but Sebastian interrupted him.

“It’s fine, bro. Better don’t leave me alone with this guy. He makes me lose control so easily,” Sebastian said, still grinning.

Blaine wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. He stared at Eric who didn’t seem all too impressed by Sebastian’s comment. He was probably used to Sebastian’s bluntness. Still, Blaine desperately wanted to change the topic and turned to Eric. “Nice dreads, man. I’ve been wondering how you get away with them at Dalton. Didn’t they ask you to cut them off?”

Eric ran his hand through his impressively long brown hair and nodded. “Yeah, they did. Luckily, there’s not much they can do about it. Doesn’t say anything about hair in the uniform guidelines. But you changed your hair, didn’t you?” 

Blaine was surprised that Eric had noticed the change since they had never talked. Before he could answer, Sebastian chimed in. “ _I_ changed Blaine’s hair, to be precise. The long curls were gorgeous, but the new style is more warbleresque and it’s equally hot. Actually, Eric, I’m picturing you with this hairstyle and I’m pretty sure it would work on you, too. Let me know if you wanna try it.”

Eric laughed and shook his head. “You did a good job with Blaine, but nah, I’m good. I’m not a Warbler, I don’t need that. Although the length of my dreads sometimes is an issue at Capoeira.” Eric paused and looked at Blaine and Sebastian with the same puzzled expression as before. “Oh, now I get why your fight was so weird.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “It was weird? No kidding.”

“Didn’t Hunter know that you guys are a thing? Wait, that’s probably the reason why he wanted you to fight. Sick asshole,” Eric remarked with a frown.

“No, he doesn’t know,” Blaine said and, with a telling look at Sebastian, he added, “Actually, nobody knows.”

It took Sebastian a few seconds to understand and when he did, he gasped. “Oh sh... I’m really sorry.” He stared at Blaine with regret. “Uhm, you know, Eric is really awesome and won’t tell anybody, isn’t that right, Eric?”

Eric looked confused again. “Tell what? That you’re a thing?”

“Well, yes, _that_ because I don’t even know what kind of _thing_ we are and also that Blaine is gay because I just remembered that this isn’t a widely known fact at Dalton and I may have outed him in front of you, which is a total no-go and I’m eternally sorry for that,” Sebastian gushed with an embarrassed, regretful expression on his face.

“Oh.” Eric’s gaze wandered from Blaine to Sebastian and back. “I won’t tell anyone, really,” he said to Blaine with an apologetic smile.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry, babe,” Sebastian repeated. He looked crushed.

“It’s okay,” Blaine said with a sigh. “I’m going to tell people eventually. I already told Nick.”

“You told Nick?” Sebastian asked, seemingly surprised.

Nick’s story about Connor popped up in Blaine’s head again. He felt the sudden urge to confront Sebastian with it. “Yeah, and you know what? It’s the funniest thing. His roommate before me was gay, too.” 

Blaine gave Sebastian a provocative smile and carefully observed his reaction for traces of guilt. But there was no guilt. Instead, Sebastian broke into laughter.

“He told you about Connor, didn’t he? That the poor soul left Dalton because of me? Boo hoo. That dude was a snitch, wasn’t he, Eric?”

Eric shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Blaine felt weirdly relieved when he heard that Connor might not have been the innocent, battered guy that Nick had portrayed. “What happened?”

“Apparently, he was into me and when his crazy brain finally realized that I wasn’t into him, he ratted me out to Principal Lee when I went out to a Beaverton party. I was greeted by the security guy when I got back and had detention every single day for a month.” Sebastian seemed to be amused by his own story.

“So you didn’t use him?” Blaine asked carefully.

“Is that what Nick told you? What a dick. Oh well, he heard that story from Connor, so I’m not surprised. Connor _never_ told me that he was into me until after he’d blown the whistle. He literally said to me that all he wanted was to hook up. At some point, I may have noticed a bit of awkwardness, but you know, sometimes, deceiving yourself is just the easier option. Think of Aiden.” 

Hearing that name again from Sebastian’s mouth stung. “You can’t compare that,” Blaine countered quickly. He was still relieved about having heard the other side of the story.

“Guys, I really enjoy your boy stories, but I have to go to class now,” Eric announced and got up from the table. “It was great talking to you, Blaine. I already heard that Dalton will win at least one trophy with your help this year. That’s good to know because our basketball team currently sucks ass. Oh, and I really won’t tell anyone.”

“It’s fine,” Blaine replied with an embarrassed smile. When Eric was gone, he turned to Sebastian. “I gotta go, too, now. See you later?”

Sebastian’s face was full of regret again. “I’m really sorry, Blaine. I didn’t think at all when I said that. Would it be better if we didn’t hang out together in public? I wasn’t sure if you rather wanted to sit with Nick and the others...”

“Sebastian,” Blaine interrupted him. “It’s fine, really. I don’t care if anyone knows. Dalton is a safe space, right? I mean except for you... and Hunter.”

A grin crossed Sebastian’s face. “That’s correct.” He took Blaine’s hand under the table and squeezed it. They exchanged a conspiratorial smile that made Blaine forget all the trouble the day had brought so far.

When they headed off to class, Blaine felt like he was walking on air again.


	13. Home Sweet Home

Although Sebastian was constantly on Blaine’s mind, they didn’t have much time to spend together over the following days, at least not in private. They had the Warbler meeting on Thursday evening, some shared classes and meals. Then it was Friday and Blaine would have been looking forward to the weekend if his mother hadn’t insisted on taking him home for a couple of days. 

On Friday afternoon, not long before his parents were supposed to pick him up, Blaine went to see Sebastian in his room. After closing the door behind Blaine, Sebastian pushed him against it and crushed their mouths together. Pleasantly surprised by the attack, Blaine kissed him back with just as much heat. 

When they parted, Sebastian smiled at Blaine with bright eyes. “Are you up for a spectacular weekend?” He pressed his lips on Blaine’s left cheek and his mouth began to wander down Blaine’s neck.

“Sorry, my parents are taking me home this weekend,” Blaine mumbled, trying hard to stay in control of his body and mind. Sebastian’s kisses were intoxicating.

Taken aback, Sebastian pulled away and stared at Blaine in disbelief. “What? Why haven’t you mentioned that sooner? I have a whole thing planned for us.”

“What thing?” Blaine already felt guilty for not telling Sebastian earlier. 

A week ago, his mother had told him that she and Richard would be going to Columbus and that they would pick him up on the way back to Lima, so he could spend the weekend at home. He hadn’t told Sebastian because he wasn’t looking forward to it and he had actually intended to cancel the plan. But then he’d realized that he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint his mother. 

Much to Blaine’s regret, Sebastian now seemed disappointed in her place, even a little pissed. “A thing. Doesn’t matter now that it’s not going to happen. So what do you want here?”

“Your number.” It was weird that they hadn’t even exchanged numbers yet, but it gave Blaine an excuse to see Sebastian again before leaving.

Sebastian’s face lit up again. “Oh, you’re into sexting?”

Blaine broke into a grin, but he quickly hid his excitement behind a frown. “I didn’t say that. I just thought it would be nice if we could... stay in touch.”

“You make it sound like you’re moving across the pond. But alright, you can have my number. Phone?” Sebastian demanded and held his hand out. When Blaine had handed him the device, Sebastian typed in his number, saved it, and then he started to scroll through Blaine’s photos. “Do you have any nudes on here?”

“Give it back!” Blaine snapped and tried to get his phone back. They began to wrestle playfully and ended up on Sebastian’s bed.

Half amused, half mad, Blaine pinned Sebastian down, his right forearm gently pressed against Sebastian’s throat. “There are no nudes on there.”

“Can I take one of you now?” Sebastian continued to tease him.

“No,” Blaine countered harshly and tore his phone out of Sebastian’s grip. It was one of those moments when Blaine didn’t know if he wanted to kill or kiss him. Admittedly, he never failed to get turned on by Sebastian’s audacity. But he didn’t have time for shenanigans. “I have to go now.”

“Already?” Sebastian asked with utter disappointment. 

The nagging feeling of guilt stung again and Blaine wished he had told Sebastian about his trip to Lima earlier. But it was also heart-warming to see that Sebastian didn’t want him to leave. “Yes, my pa-...” 

Blaine couldn’t finish the sentence because Sebastian pulled him down for another deep kiss. Then, Sebastian pushed Blaine off himself, jumped up from the bed and sat down at his desk in front of his laptop. “Have fun and goodbye,” he said in a bored tone without even looking at Blaine. Apparently, Sebastian had decided that he’d spilled enough emotions. 

“Thanks and goodbye,” Blaine answered just as dryly, but when he’d left the room, he wasn’t able to get rid of the smile on his lips. Sebastian had been looking forward to spending the weekend with him. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. 

Half an hour later, Blaine was standing in the school parking lot with his backpack. His parents were running late and, as he was waiting for them, he couldn’t take his eyes off the school building. 

Dalton was becoming more and more like home. Sebastian, Nick and the Warblers somehow made him feel like he belonged. They appreciated him. They made him feel like he mattered, while, in his actual home, there was at least one person who made him feel like an outcast. Blaine felt himself gravitating back to the school, not wanting to leave, not even for two days.

Eventually, his parents’ black SUV pulled into the parking lot. The car hadn’t even come to a complete halt when Pam already jumped out from the passenger seat to storm towards Blaine and hug him so tightly that he thought was going to be choked. 

“I missed you so much!” she said warmly with tears in her eyes. When she finally loosened her embrace and took a proper look at him, she gushed, “Oh Blaine, your hair! You finally had a haircut and you’re using the raspberry gel! You look so handsome and so...” She paused and sniffed loudly. “You look so grown-up.”

Blaine felt incredibly embarrassed by Pam’s emotional surge and was glad that Sebastian wasn’t able to witness the awkward scene in the parking lot from his dorm room window.

“It’s only been five weeks. I don’t think I look that different.”

She looked at him with a sad yet fond smile. “I know, but now that you’re going to this school, I feel like I’m missing this important part of your life. The one where you’re becoming a man...”

“Mom! Can we just leave, please?” For some reason, Pam’s words about him becoming a man reminded him of his first sexual experiences with Sebastian and he didn’t even want to _think_ of that when his mother was around.

Blaine got into the back seat and forced himself to look into the rear-view mirror. His father hadn’t gotten out of the car to greet him, neither was he saying anything now. He just nodded briefly when their eyes met in the mirror and that was it.

They left as soon as Pam had closed the passenger door. The atmosphere in the car was as icy as always when Richard Anderson was around, so it was a rather quiet ride back home, except for a few of Pam’s attempts at making conversation. Every time she turned around to look at Blaine, her face beamed with affection and it made Blaine’s heart melt. He felt guilty for having only called her once ever since he’d moved to Dalton.

When they were approaching Lima, Blaine’s eyes caught sight of a sign off the highway that he’d seen a million times before. This time, however, it made his heart skip a beat. _Buckeye Ranch and Golf Resort - Next Exit_ , it said in giant letters. As they passed the exit to Sebastian’s home, Blaine suddenly felt a gaping emptiness inside him. He hadn’t expected that he would miss Sebastian so soon.

He took his phone out of his pocket and went through the contacts. He needed to see Sebastian’s number, just to make sure that it was really there. When he didn’t find a contact with the name _Sebastian_ , his heart dropped into his stomach. Was it possible that Sebastian hadn’t saved his number properly after entering it?

Blaine was silently freaking out. He frantically scrolled through his contacts. There was no _Sebastian_. 

After two incredibly stressful minutes of scrolling up and down, he noticed a contact he wasn’t familiar with: _Boy Toy_.

Blaine suppressed a laugh of relief and cursed Sebastian. What an _idiot_.

As Richard pulled into the driveway of their house, Blaine felt the urge to send a quick message because Sebastian didn’t have his number yet. He was 99.9 percent positive that _Boy Toy_ was Sebastian, but since he couldn’t come up with anything better to write, he decided to ask if it really was him, just to make sure.

B: _Sebastian?_

Without waiting for an answer, he changed the name of the contact to _Sebastian_. 

When the SUV came to a halt, Blaine slid the phone back into his pocket, got out of the car and followed his parents inside. It was weird to be back in Lima and Blaine wasn’t sure if his old home felt anything like home anymore. 

The house had never been a place of complete safety and comfort. Blaine’s childhood could have been happy, hadn’t it been for his narcissistic brother Cooper, who had terrorized him whenever the opportunity had arisen. 

Once Cooper had finally left and moved to L.A. to become an actor, Blaine had foolishly decided to come out to his parents and his father had been making him feel like an outcast ever since.

But throughout his life, his mother had bathed him in affection, even after she’d found the expensive headphones and the joints he’d stolen from a jock’s locker earlier that year. He often thought that someone like her, a beautiful, good-hearted angel, deserved a better family. A more loving and caring husband and less selfish and damaged sons. 

She didn’t deserve a son who never called. She didn’t deserve a son who broke one law after another. She didn’t deserve the grief that he had caused her by ending up in a hospital after a silly school dance.

Blaine went straight to his room and tossed his backpack on his meticulously made bed. He let his eyes wander over the familiar things and walls. Eventually they landed on his guitar. 

Music. That was something he was good at. He hadn’t even told Pam about the Warblers yet. It would surely make her proud - and his dad angry, which was almost just as satisfying. Richard had never been fond of Blaine’s glee club activities and had once expressed the thought that Blaine probably wouldn’t have _ended up gay_ if he had just engaged in playing football instead. It was a mystery to Blaine how his pretty and smart mother had ended up with a vile monster like him.

During dinner, Richard ate in silence while Pam peppered Blaine with questions about his classes and activities. When he finally told them that he had joined the Warblers and that he had been chosen to sing all the solos at Sectionals, Richard accidentally dropped his fork and raised his eyebrows, looking slightly impressed. Pam shrieked with cheerful surprise.

“Oh honey! That’s such great news! We absolutely have to see you at Sectionals! Are we free that weekend, Rick? You know what, I don’t care, I’ll definitely be there. I can’t miss that!” 

Blaine hadn’t made his mother proud in such a long time that the sight of her enthusiasm and admiration made him feel physically warm and well.

After dinner, Blaine felt compelled to stay downstairs and spend some time with Pam, even if it was just watching TV together. Every now and then, he peeked at his phone and wondered why he hadn’t received a reply from Sebastian yet. Blaine had sent his message hours ago and Sebastian hadn’t even read it. But it was Friday night. Sebastian was probably out. He was probably busy. 

They were watching some TV series Blaine didn’t know and, after a while, his mind was slowly drifting to Sebastian again. Only when a kissing scene between the male and female protagonists came up, he paid attention to the screen again. Something occurred to him. Something bad.

What if Sebastian was hanging out with some other guy? _Making out_ with some other guy? It would be the most natural thing for him to do on a Friday night. Sebastian was still Sebastian.

Scenes of horror were unfolding in Blaine’s mind. He was suddenly sure that Sebastian wasn’t in for a relationship with him. Just because Sebastian liked him, it didn’t mean that he was suddenly monogamous. What had he been thinking? 

This somber epiphany made Blaine feel so low that he told his parents that he was tired and said goodnight. He went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. His phone was lying next to him in the dark. He was unable to shake the images of Sebastian with another guy that were glued to his mind now. Jealousy was eating him up.

After an eternity of tossing and turning, Blaine’s phone buzzed all of a sudden. He quickly unlocked it and read the message.

S: _Babe?_

Blaine’s heartbeat instantly accelerated. Sebastian was back. And Blaine just _had_ to know where he’d been.

B: _What have you been up to?_

The answer came quickly.

S: _Went to the movies w/ Trish. Just got back. U?_

Blaine felt relief seep into him like a perfectly sweetened latte with caramel syrup. It was that amazing. There was no other guy. Just Trish. He suddenly felt so stupid.

B: _Just hung out with my folks. Told my mom about the Warblers and she went crazy. I think I can’t keep her from coming to Sectionals now_

S: _She better be there. You’re killer, hon_

B: _Was going to the movies the *thing* you had planned for us?_

There was a short pause.

S: _Maybe_

B: _I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Can we go next week?_

S: _Maybe. But first, you’ll have to make up for almost spoiling my weekend_

B: _How?_

Suddenly, Blaine’s phone started to vibrate in his hand. Sebastian was calling him. He picked up, smiling in happy anticipation of hearing Sebastian’s voice. “What’s up?”

“You mentioned Sectionals, now I wanna hear you sing. Sing me a lullaby,” Sebastian said in a husky voice. Blaine could tell that he was lying in bed, too.

“What?” Blaine laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I want you to sing for me,” Sebastian insisted.

“What do you want me to sing?”

“ _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_.”

“Okay,” Blaine agreed with a giddy feeling in his chest. Pam used to sing this song for him when he was little and he’d always loved it.

He sat up on his bed and started to sing quietly into the phone. When he was done, Sebastian asked him to do it again, and again, not satisfied until Blaine had sung it three times.

“That was nice. Thank you,” Sebastian said, yawning. His voice sounded very sleepy now. “Goodnight, babe.”

“Sleep well,” Blaine replied and before he could think of anything else to say, Sebastian had hung up.

Blaine lay back down and turned on his side. He imagined that, instead of the blanket, it was Sebastian who was wrapped around him from behind, soft and warm.

It felt weird lying in his old bed again, the one he had barely been able to get out of only months ago. But everything was different now. Maybe his mother was right. He had changed a lot in only a few weeks. Somehow, he had remembered how to be happy again, at least for a while.

* * *

On Saturday, Blaine tried to spend as much time with his mother as possible. After breakfast, he sang and played the songs for Sectionals on her grand piano for her. It made her tear up again, but Blaine was fairly sure that those tears were the good kind.

In the afternoon, they drove more than an hour to the nearest ice hockey arena that was open in October because Pam knew how much Blaine loved ice-skating. She’d never felt comfortable on skates, but when Blaine took her by the hand and they went for one spin after another, both were having the time of their lives.

Blaine hadn’t spent that much time with his mother in many years and he was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. They didn’t talk much about Dalton that day, but Blaine came close to mentioning Sebastian more than once. 

Yet, every time he felt the urge to tell Pam about him, something inside him took the wind out of his sails. He didn’t even know what was going on between them, except that they liked each other. They definitely weren’t boyfriends yet. He didn’t want to get Pam all excited about something that was still so undefinable and fragile. He was sure she would be very excited for him.

Blaine and Sebastian texted each other occasionally during the day. Shortly before dinner, Blaine looked at his phone and was thrilled to see that he’d received another message from Sebastian.

S: _What are you doing?_

Blaine heard Pam call him from the dining room and he answered with a quick “Coming!”

B: _We’re having dinner now_

He slipped his phone into the front pocket of his jeans and hurried downstairs. Richard was sitting at the table and greeted him with an annoyed look because Pam hadn’t let him dig in before Blaine had joined them.

While they were eating, Richard talked nonstop about the charity event he’d spent the day at. Blaine couldn’t care less. When his phone buzzed, he peeked at it under the table.

S: _Lame. I already had dinner. Time for dessert_

A minute later, it buzzed again.

S: _Will you strip for me?_

And again.

S: _I wanna lick your delicious body from head to toe..._

Blaine’s cheeks instantly flushed with warmth. He tried to ignore his phone and pay attention to the boring stuff his father was talking about. He needed to cool down. But then, his phone buzzed again.

S: _Fuck, I really want you now_

S: _I wanna find out what it’s like to top you..._

S: _to take you from behind..._

The warmth turned into heat. Blaine was sure he was blushing. Worse, he felt that his member had started to grow. Barely looking at his phone, he typed a desperate reply.

B: _stop it, i’m at the dinner table w my parents_

S: _to thrust into your amazingly tight ass..._

B: _STOP IT_

Blaine was completely hard now. He shifted on the chair to readjust his boner that was uncomfortably trapped in his jeans. When he looked up again, he realized that Richard was glaring at him angrily.

“What’s this constant buzzing? We’re having dinner. Have some respect. How old are you? Do I really have to take your phone away?” Richard hissed.

“No,” Blaine snapped back, turned his phone off without looking at it again and shoved it back into his pocket.

Apparently, his parents were done talking about Richard’s day. Trying to include Blaine in the dinner conversation, Pam steered it back to Dalton.

“We have heard so much about your singing and the classes now, but you haven’t really talked about the other students. What are the boys like at Dalton?” she asked with an encouraging smile.

Richard’s fist landed on the table with a pang. “Pam, you know that I don’t want to hear about that!”

Pam stared at him with a hurt and offended expression. “I wanted to know if he’s made any friends yet. You’re unbelievable, Rick!”

Blaine immediately felt like leaving the room. Of course, the only thing that came to his father’s mind when they talked about him was the fact that he was _gay_. That’s all he was to Richard. 

He so wanted to leave. Yet, there he was. Still sitting at the table like a good son, horny and mad at the same time, a torturing combination of feelings he’d never experienced before meeting Sebastian.

Blaine wanted to be a good son for his mother, but the mere sight of his spiteful father at the dinner table was making him frantic. If Richard didn’t want to hear any gay stories, that’s exactly what Blaine would shove down his throat.

Staring at his father with hostility, he spat, “Moving to Dalton was the best thing that could have happened to my sex life. Thanks again, dad, for sending me to a school full of horny teenage boys. It’s basically gay paradise.”

Richard was boiling with rage. He gazed at Blaine vengefully for a few seconds before dashing at him.

Blaine jumped up and managed to get away from him just in time. He wanted to flee through the door, but he and Richard both froze when they heard Pam’s shrill voice.

“Don’t you _dare_ touch him, Richard!” she screamed with furious tears in her eyes. “Blaine, go to your room!”

Fuming and with a pounding heart, Blaine left the dining room and raced upstairs. In his room, he collapsed on his bed and started to sob in anger. 

He just didn’t fit into this family. No matter how great Pam was, Richard would always remind him that he wasn’t welcome anymore. It was a horrible feeling and knowing that Dalton was his new home was only of small comfort in his state of desperation.

Blaine couldn’t bring himself to get up for at least an hour. At some point, there was a faint knocking on his door and Pam entered, carrying a plate of food.

“Honey, you’ve barely eaten. I heated this up for you.” She smiled at him warmly, but he could see that, just like him, she had been crying. She set down the plate on his desk and sat down next to him on the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Pam asked him softly.

Blaine looked at her red, swollen eyes and couldn’t stop himself from tearing up. Pam took him into her arms and he started to sob again. She pressed her mouth against his dark hair and gently ran her fingers through his curls. 

When he had calmed down a little, Blaine pulled away and looked at her sadly. “Mom, this doesn’t feel like home anymore,” he said in a low, shaky voice.

Pam looked absolutely heartbroken, but she somehow managed to smile for him. “Honey, I’m so sorry. I really wish your dad could change his attitude, but he seems to have a really hard time doing that. I’ve tried to talk to him a million times, I really have. I wish I could make you feel at home here, but I understand if that’s not possible.” She paused and lowered her gaze. “I just don’t get why you always have to push his buttons on top of everything. Maybe it doesn’t have to be this bad.”

“Mom!” Blaine exclaimed, utterly frustrated. “You can’t sweep something like this under the rug. I will always feel terrible in his presence, no matter if he ignores me or beats the shit out of me. We can’t play happy family anymore. And you can’t blame that on me.”

Suddenly, Pam teared up again as well. “I would never blame that on you!” She sighed and looked down again. “I have considered leaving him, but I think I can’t do that for many reasons.”

Blaine took a deep breath. That came as a surprise. “Wow... I had no idea...”

“Well, as I said, it’s probably not going to happen. Unless he really hits you one day, but I strongly believe that he won’t do that.” Pam smiled sadly. “How about I visit you in Westerville next time instead of bringing you here? You will probably have to come here during the breaks, but I understand that you don’t want to leave Dalton if you’re feeling at home there.”

“That sounds great. Thank you for understanding,” Blaine said softly, feeling incredibly relieved.

Pam’s smile suddenly looked embarrassed. “Honey, I also wanted to talk to you about something else. What you said earlier about Dalton reminded me that we should have a talk that we actually should’ve had a long time ago.”

A puzzled frown appeared on Blaine’s face. He had a faint idea of what she was referring to and, unfortunately, her next words confirmed his suspicion.

“I feel really bad for never having talked to you about this. Your old school didn’t have sex ed and so doesn’t Dalton, which is really horrible if you ask me... There are some things you need to know, especially...” She paused and blushed a little before she continued, “especially if you are intimate with multiple partners.”

Blaine’s jaw dropped. “No, mom, I don’t... I didn’t mean what I said to dad.”

“So you’re not... having sex yet?”

It took Blaine a moment to decide what to say. He was terrified and didn’t even really know why. “I did have... sex. Probably not the way you think, but I... The guy I was with is a responsible person.”

Pam breathed a sigh of relief. “So you used a condom?”

“No, mom, it wasn’t... We didn’t... Ugh, why do we have to talk about this?” Blaine was in full crisis mode.

“Because I want you to be safe,” Pam said with determination. She had gotten over her embarrassment rather quickly. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“No. I mean... not yet. I like him and he seems to like me, but that doesn’t automatically make us... boyfriends,” Blaine stammered with desperation in his eyes.

“Sweetie, calm down. I’m so happy to hear that you met somebody you like.” Pam smiled at him warmly and patted him on his knee. “What’s his name?”

Blaine felt his pulse gradually slow down. It was so good to hear that his mother was happy for him. “Sebastian.” Saying the name out loud made him smile back at her.

“Well, I hope that Sebastian will end up becoming your boyfriend. I would love to meet him.”

The thought of Pam meeting Sebastian was somewhat wild and made Blaine laugh. “Okay. I will let you know if that happens.”

Pam’s face turned more serious again. “So when you are intimate with Sebastian...”

“Mom!” Blaine cut her off. “I’m pretty sure I already know everything I need to know. I grew up in the age of the internet.”

“Blaine, you don’t learn about STDs from watching porn...”

“Oh my god! I didn’t mean that!” Blaine didn’t know if he should freak out or just laugh about the ridiculousness of it all. He needed this discussion to end. “There are educational websites, even for gay kids, and I can assure you that I know about condoms and STDs and even about pregnancy although I’m not planning on sleeping with a girl... like, ever.”

Pam finally looked somewhat satisfied. “Okay. If you ever have any questions, please don’t be afraid to talk with me. Even though I’m not a man, I’d do anything to help you.”

“I know, mom. You’re the best,” Blaine said, smiling. He hugged Pam, hoping that she’d finally drop the subject.

“I think I’ll have to heat up your dinner again,” she sighed, but Blaine stopped her.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just eat it now. I’m sure it’ll still taste good. Thank you.”

Pam smiled at Blaine warmly. “I love you, baby.”

“Love you, too.” As he watched her get up and leave the room, he felt deeply grateful for having a mother like her, despite her talent for making him feel excruciatingly uncomfortable sometimes. 

When he was alone again, Blaine felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Pam had reminded him that he could always count on her. He was also glad that he’d been able to tell her about Sebastian. He had wanted her to know. 

Sebastian. Oh boy. The family crisis had made him completely forget that Sebastian had been teasing him during dinner. He turned his phone on again and opened the messenger app with growing excitement.

There were 24 unread messages from Sebastian. As Blaine scrolled through them, he got hard again in record time. After all the drama, his brain was craving endorphins, so Sebastian’s messages were just what he needed. He locked the door and jerked off to the outrageously hot mental images Sebastian had sparked in him. 

Afterwards, he felt remarkably relaxed, almost as if nothing bad had happened that day. But he still had a bone to pick with Sebastian.

B: _You’re the WORST, srsly_

Sebastian replied only seconds later.

S: _Really? I was told that I’m pretty good at this.._.

B: _Haha. You may have contributed to a major family crisis_

S: _Whaaaat???? Are you being serious? I’m sorry..._

B: _It’s ok_

S: _Hmmm..._

S: _I was getting off picturing your secret boner under the dinner table. Did you have a boner?_

B: _What do you think?_

S: _8=====D_

B: _Is this supposed to be my dick???_

S: _;)_

Blaine laughed out loud, instantly reminded of Trish’s statement that Sebastian was so much more mature than the other guys at Dalton. He was about to reply when he saw that Sebastian was typing again.

S: _I wish you were here_

The rhythm of Blaine’s heart was suddenly out of control. This was happening.

B: _Same... Good thing I’ll be back tomorrow before dinner_

S: _Wanna watch a movie then?_

B: _Sure_

S: _=)_

Before Blaine had even been able to process the alluring prospect of spending the next evening with Sebastian, he received another message. 

S: _Miss u_

This was surreal. Blaine had a hard time believing his eyes.

B: _Are you drunk?_

S: _?_

S: No

B: _Miss u 2_

Blaine let himself fall back on his bed and closed his eyes, smiling from ear to ear. This was happening.


	14. Unknown Pleasures

Pam agreed to drive Blaine back to school alone, but she insisted he say goodbye to his father. Richard had spent the entire Sunday in his office. Reluctantly, Blaine peeked through the door and did as he was told. He wasn’t even granted three full seconds of Richard’s attention, who just looked at him briefly and mumbled something that sounded like goodbye before focussing on his computer again. Blaine was glad when he was finally in the car on his way back to Westerville.

Saying goodbye to Pam in the Dalton parking lot was just as hard as saying it to Richard but for entirely different reasons. The weekend had brought them so much closer and Blaine knew that he would miss her a lot more than before.

He went to dinner with Nick, Jeff and Trent, but he hurried to Sebastian’s room right afterwards. Blaine had expected that Sebastian would be all over him in an instant, but, instead, his behavior was downright gentlemanly. Sebastian greeted him with a remarkably sweet kiss and offered him a maple glazed donut.

“How was your weekend?” Sebastian wanted to know, but Blaine didn’t feel like talking about the family drama.

“I’m just glad that I’m back,” he replied briefly, munching his donut.

“So am I.” Sebastian had a flicker in his eyes that seemed to be saying much more than that, but Blaine, distracted by his treat, didn’t notice.

They snuggled up in Sebastian’s bed and watched a horror movie on his laptop. Blaine didn’t care much about the absurd storyline, the gore and the terror. All he cared about was that he was with Sebastian. 

After a while, Blaine almost drifted off into sleep. His head was resting on Sebastian’s chest, Sebastian’s left arm wrapped around him. He could feel the steady rhythm of Sebastian’s heart pulsating against his cheek. It was the weirdest thing. It was another one of those perfect moments. 

During the following week, Blaine and Sebastian spent two more nights just like that. There was a lot of kissing and petting but nothing below the waistline. Blaine enjoyed the cuddling a lot, but it made him wonder what Sebastian was doing the nights that they didn’t spend together. 

By the end of the week, Blaine’s unstoppable irrational mind was almost convinced that Sebastian was seeing other guys again. So far, that year had been the worst year in Blaine’s life and he just couldn’t believe that it would get any better towards the end.

During breakfast on Friday, Sebastian suggested they could go to a gay club in Columbus that night and mentioned that he had fake IDs for them. Blaine agreed to go because he had let Sebastian down the previous weekend, but he wasn’t feeling like going out at all. After dinner, he walked over to Sebastian’s room and pretended to be excited, but his act wasn’t convincing.

“What’s up, babe?” Sebastian asked with a worried look on his face. He had already changed into a hoodie and jeans, while Blaine was still wearing his uniform and a frown. Sebastian was leaning against his desk, holding his phone in his hand. “You don’t look like you want to go out.”

“No, it’s okay,” Blaine replied with a half-hearted smile. He had taken his shoes off and was sitting cross-legged on Sebastian’s bed, looking down in the dumps.

Blaine cringed when the phone in Sebastian’s hand buzzed again. It was about the twentieth message Sebastian had received in the past five minutes. Surely another guy. Nick was probably right and Blaine was in for a major heartbreak. They would go to the gay club and Sebastian would vanish with some stud. Blaine could see it so clearly before him, it made him feel sick.

Sebastian put his phone on the desk without having read the new message, sat down next to Blaine on the bed and took his hand. “Hey. Blaine. Look at me. What the hell is wrong?”

Blaine turned to him and, as so often, his heart started to melt when he looked into Sebastian’s beautiful blueish green eyes. With a face like that, Sebastian could have any guy and he had been taking full advantage of that. Why wouldn’t he? There was no reason for Sebastian to stop now.

“If I tell you the truth, it’ll probably ruin everything. My stupid mind has been set on destroying everything around me for a while now,” Blaine said, devastated.

Sebastian cast him a leery look. “Okay... That doesn’t really sound comforting.”

Blaine sighed. “Did you mean what you wrote last weekend?”

“Oh...” Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Are you referring to the part where I wrote that I wanted to top you? Look, I’m sorry.” His expression indicated that he was suddenly clouded with regret. “I was just fooling around. I would never push you into doing that. We don’t have to do anything like that anytime soon.”

“Oh, we don’t?” Blaine snapped. “So in the meantime you’re doing it with other guys?”

Sebastian’s jaw dropped in astonishment at Blaine’s aggressive tone. “What?”

“Isn’t that what you were doing when you didn’t have time to hang out? Isn’t that why you haven’t touched me all week?” Blaine’s voice was trembling. He knew that he sounded like a maniac. Sebastian hadn’t promised him anything. He didn’t owe him anything. But Blaine just had to know because he was going crazy with self-doubts and jealousy.

“Holy fuck, Blaine. Do you know how often you’ve given me shit for touching you?” Sebastian seemed to have a hard time deciding whether to laugh or to be mad. “Look, I don’t wanna fuck this up, okay? So I thought it would be good to show you that I’m not just interested in your dick. Is it even possible to do things right by you?”

An instant feeling of guilt hit Blaine like a punch in the face. Overwhelmed by his irrational fears, he hadn’t thought of that at all. “But... how do you...?”

“How do I survive?” Sebastian laughed. “Lots of fapping. And no, I haven’t been hooking up with other guys. I actually haven’t done that ever since you showed up at Dalton for the first time.” He hesitated and seemed to contemplate if he should continue. Finally, he looked into Blaine’s eyes, his expression soft but serious. “I’m still not really sure how that happened, but I don’t wanna be with other guys anymore. You’re pretty much all I can think about.”

Blaine lowered his gaze and stared at Sebastian’s right hand that was still holding his. Sebastian had just said the most daring and beautiful thing Blaine could have hoped for. But instead of simply feeling good about it, his overwhelming jealousy had turned into overwhelming embarrassment. He felt like a complete idiot. “Shit... I’m sorry.”

A desperate sigh escaped from Sebastian’s mouth. “I can imagine what you heard about me and maybe some of it is true, but... Ugh... I think I know what you’re looking for and, a few weeks ago, I thought that I could never be that.” He paused and let go of Blaine’s hand. “But now I _want_ to be what you’re looking for. I just obviously don’t know how.”

Blaine buried his face in his palms. He was full of shame. When Sebastian laid his arm around him, it took him all he had not to tear up. What a whiny, insecure little shit he’d become that year. It was unbearable. Sebastian deserved better. “I’m really so sorry. I’m a mess... I’m so fucked up,” he stammered and seriously considered running off, but he couldn’t even find the strength to do that.

Sebastian nuzzled his face against Blaine’s hair. “I don’t believe that’s true.”

Tears were welling up in Blaine’s eyes and he was fighting hard to hold them back. “But it is true. And I guess I owe you this information if we’re ever gonna be... whatever.” Blaine paused briefly to collect himself. “You already know about the nightmares and you can probably imagine that the damn attack screwed me up beyond that.” When his eyes finally met Sebastian’s again, he didn’t even try to hide his pain anymore. “The other thing is, last weekend, my dad almost hit me. I could tell he wanted to. He hates me and I wish I didn’t care about it, but I do. It’s messing with my head.”

Shock was written all over Sebastian’s face. “What happened? Was it because of my messages?”

“What? No! He complained about my phone buzzing, but that wasn’t the reason. I said something provocative to make him mad, so part of it may have been my fault... But I didn’t think he would actually jump at me.”

“Why do you think that he hates you?”

“I _know_ he hates me. And you probably already know why. Take a guess, boy toy.” Blaine’s voice mirrored his frustration.

“Damn... I kinda expected him to be a homophobic asshole, to be honest.” Sebastian paused and before he continued, he took a deep breath. “Blaine... I think I should tell you something, too.”

Sebastian’s words were confusing at first, but then Blaine remembered that Sebastian had mentioned that he knew about his father’s job. Blaine had completely forgotten to ask him about that again. He braced himself for bad news because Sebastian’s face was already speaking volumes about how uncomfortable the topic made him feel. 

It seemed to take Sebastian some effort to look at Blaine. “You know, in my family, my mom is boss. It was her grandfather who made the oil money and she gets to make all the decisions about the family business. She’s a pretty awesome mother, but, as a CEO, she sometimes does stuff that I hate her for. One of those things is that she donates a shitload of money to your dad.”

Blaine froze. Richard Anderson was a big fish in Lima’s local politics and he knew that he had ties to several big-business owners, but Blaine had never thought about Sebastian’s family that way. But of course, the Smythes were playing in exactly that league. 

“You surely know that all your dad and his degenerate friends do is cater to the few major businesses in Lima.” Sebastian smiled apologetically. “My family has such a business. They help fund his campaign, he licks their ass. It’s a symbiosis born in hell, but that’s how politics works. At least in Northwestern Ohio.”

Blaine’s mind was racing, trying to make sense of that new revelation. “So you know my dad?”

“No. I mean, I don’t know him in person. I’ve definitely seen him at some of the bigger events at the golf course, but I’m not particularly interested in meeting my mother’s fake friends. I know that she hates them anyway.” Sebastian lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. “Isn’t it great to know that our parents are working hand in hand? For social injustice and environmental destruction. They stand for everything that’s wrong with the world. But we get to go to Dalton because of it, so it’s definitely worth it,” he added in a sarcastic tone and looked at Blaine again. “I hope this doesn’t upset you, but I don’t think I’d get along with old Richard. He seems like a real dick. And apparently he’s a really shitty dad on top of that.”

Blaine sighed. “No, I fully agree. My dad sucks - as a politician and as a person. I don’t know why his attitude towards me affects me that much. I shouldn’t be giving a shit about him.”

Sebastian reached for Blaine’s hand and pulled him closer until they were lying next to each other. “I think that’s normal. He’s your dad. But more so, he’s a jerk.” Sebastian’s fingers brushed over Blaine’s cheek and neck. “What about your mom?”

Enjoying Sebastian’s touch, Blaine closed his eyes. It was wonderfully soothing. “She’s the complete opposite of him. She’s amazing.”

“Mmm, I like your mom,” Sebastian said with a soft smile on his lips.

When Blaine looked into Sebastian’s eyes, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “She wants to meet you.” As soon as the words had left his mouth, Blaine bit his tongue. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

Sebastian’s eyes went wide and his smile broader. “You told her about me?”

Relieved to see that Sebastian wasn’t freaking out, Blaine smiled as well. “I didn’t plan to, but it came up.”

“Did you tell her I was your boyfriend?” Sebastian asked with a cheeky grin.

“No!” Blaine said quickly. “I’m not that delusional. I know that we’re not... But, for the record, when I asked you earlier if you meant what you wrote, I didn’t mean your dirty fantasies. I wanted to know if you really missed me.”

Sebastian looked at Blaine as if he’d just asked the dumbest question in the world. “Of course, I missed you, silly.” He leaned in and kissed Blaine softly on the lips. “And for the record, when I didn’t have time to hang out with you this week, I wasn’t banging other guys. I was taking dancing lessons with Trish.”

Blaine let out a laugh of surprise and relief. “What?”

“She got dumped by her dancing partner last week, so I jumped in. It’s twice a week, so I’ll be busier than I want to be, but it’s only for one more month or so. Speaking of Trish, she has been harassing me about what’s going on between us. I guess if you told your mom, I can tell her, right? I didn’t wanna make the same mistake again that I made by telling Eric, so I’ve been keeping my mouth shut.”

Finally, all the negative sentiments had evaporated. Blaine nodded and, for the first time, he actually enjoyed feeling the butterflies in his stomach. 

With a cheeky grin, Sebastian asked him, “So what exactly did you tell your mom?”

Blaine bit his lower lip and smiled sheepishly. “That I like a guy... called Sebastian.” Of course, that wasn’t all of it, but even if he had wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to bring up the sex talk. It had just been too awkward and embarrassing.

“And what exactly do you like about him?” Sebastian asked with a scrutinizing look before he broke into a playful smile again. “I heard he’s a douche.”

Blaine’s gaze wandered from Sebastian’s mesmerizing eyes down to his alluring lips and perfect white teeth. His smile made Blaine’s heart flutter.

With flushed cheeks, Blaine started to play with the drawstrings of Sebastian’s hoodie. “I like that... he’s funny... and clever... and sexy.” Their eyes locked. “And I don’t know if he would like to hear that, but even though he sometimes pretends to be a douche, I think he’s a very kind person.”

Sebastian ran his hand through Blaine’s hair, cupped the back of his head and pulled him closer until their lips met. It was another one of those gentle kisses with just a little tongue and lots of sweetness. 

“Please don’t tell anyone that you think I’m _kind_. That’s a rumor I don’t want spread around,” Sebastian said with a smirk and pinched Blaine in the side. 

Blaine winced and burst into laughter. “Okay, I won’t... Uhm. Your phone keeps buzzing.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “That’s just Trish. She wanted to meet us in Columbus, but then she got a migraine or something. I think she shouldn’t keep staring at her phone if that’s the case, but she’s a textaholic before everything else. She has asked me for your number more than a million times now.”

Trish, again. Blaine was hoping that his brain had understood once and for all that there was no reason to be jealous. “So, are we still going to Columbus?”

“I have a feeling you don’t really wanna go today,” Sebastian said. He didn’t sound particularly disappointed about it.

“I don’t wanna ruin your plans again, so we can go...”

“No. It’s okay. I understand that you’re still exhausted from last weekend. We can go next weekend. Maybe Trish will feel better then, too. That is, if you want her to come. We can also go alone.”

“Of course, she can come,” Blaine said quickly. He was ridiculously grateful that Sebastian was so understanding.

“And we could go to the movies tomorrow if you want. But today, we can just have fun here. How does that sound?” Sebastian’s smile was so heart-warmingly optimistic and beautiful that Blaine had to touch Sebastian’s lips with his thumb to check if he wasn’t just dreaming. Fortunately, they felt pretty real.

“See, that’s what I meant by kind person.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sebastian laughed, pushed Blaine back and hopped on top of him. After kissing the sensitive spot behind Blaine’s right ear, Sebastian brushed his lips over his earlobe and whispered, “Do you want me to touch you now? I’d like to introduce you to some next-level kindness...”

Blaine was already turned on. Instead of answering the question, he slipped his hands under Sebastian’s hoodie and pulled it off. He was relieved to see that the bruises on Sebastian’s torso had almost completely faded.

Sebastian smiled down at him, opened Blaine’s blazer and started to play with the tie, wrapping it around his fist. “You know, if you see guys in this uniform all around you every day, you don’t even notice it anymore after a while. But you... when I first saw you, I thought, well, there’s a guy who makes this uniform look good. It’s so damn sexy on you.” Sebastian leaned down to kiss Blaine, still holding on to the tie with one hand and opening the buttons of Blaine’s shirt with the other. “And to know that you’re even more stunning underneath... it’s almost too much.”

The combination of feeling Sebastian’s weight on top of him and the pull on his tie caused a sudden rush of panic in Blaine. He felt an urge to fight back. Sebastian was taking control over his body and that was more than intimidating - at first. But Sebastian’s words and the way he was kissing him were such a turn-on that the uncomfortable feeling in his gut was quickly replaced by intense arousal. Sebastian had asked him to trust him more than once. Blaine felt that he was finally able to do just that. He was ready to give himself to Sebastian.

Blaine stripped off his blazer and shirt, while his tie remained around his neck, the other end still in Sebastian’s hand. Sebastian only let go of it so he could move further down and open Blaine’s pants. He tore them off along with every other piece of clothing Blaine had been wearing. 

Kneeling next to him, Sebastian took a moment to take in Blaine’s naked body. After checking him out from head to toe, Sebastian’s craving eyes lingered on the tie that was still tied around Blaine’s neck. He broke into a grin and shook his head. “This is... You are the sexiest thing I’ve seen in my entire life.”

Before Blaine could say anything in return, Sebastian had climbed between his legs and began to kiss the inside of his right thigh. He worked his way up to Blaine’s groin and planted sloppy kisses all around his balls.

That was already more than enough to make Blaine moan, but then Sebastian started to lick Blaine’s balls. Not only that, he took one in his mouth, sucked on it as if it was candy and circled his tongue around it. Then he did it with the other. Then he switched again.

“Oh fuck!” Blaine groaned and quickly silenced himself, biting his fist. Whatever Sebastian was doing to his balls was mind-blowing and when Sebastian suddenly took both of them into his mouth at the same time, still sucking and caressing them with his tongue, Blaine felt close to passing out from pleasure. His most sensitive parts were entirely surrounded by - or rather trapped in - Sebastian’s warm and wet mouth and it caused an overload of pleasure that was almost as unbearably good as it was addictive.

Little did Blaine know that this was only a foretaste of Sebastian’s skills. Sebastian sucked Blaine’s balls in one last time, pulled back and let go of them with a popping sound. Encouraged by the amazed expression on Blaine’s face, Sebastian grinned and locked eyes with Blaine as he started to lick Blaine’s hard cock slowly from the base all the way to the tip. Blaine felt so hot, he was already sweating from every pore.

Sebastian paused for a moment and looked at Blaine with a seductive smile on his face. “You have know idea how often I’ve imagined myself doing this to you...”

Blaine was unable to form any words. He just stared in amazement as Sebastian lowered his lips to the tip of his dick. Sebastian teasingly flicked the tip of his tongue against the slit and circled it around the entire head of Blaine’s cock. Then, he sank his mouth down the shaft, taking Blaine in bit by bit. The sensation was so intense, Blaine felt as if tiny fireworks were going off inside his body, everywhere, even in his fingers and toes. 

Sebastian took him deeper and deeper. When his dick hit the back of Sebastian’s mouth, Blaine couldn’t hold back another groan of pleasure. And another one when Sebastian began to move his head up and down, lips firmly wrapped around Blaine’s cock. 

Blaine needed something to hold on to. He found Sebastian’s hands and squeezed them tightly. His body was in overdrive. His pulse was racing at high speed, his fingers were feeling almost numb at that point. “Fuck! Oh my god, Sebastian!” he moaned when he thought it couldn’t get any better. 

But then Sebastian started to stroke the underside of Blaine’s cock with his tongue while still moving his head up and down. The strong movement of Sebastian’s slick tongue against his cock and the incredible combination of warmth, wetness, suction and pressure was so overwhelming that Blaine didn’t even have the time to warn Sebastian. He came so hard that his pelvis involuntarily thrust upwards as his cock contracted again and again, shooting his semen into Sebastian’s mouth. 

Blaine’s brain was blissed out for several seconds before he remembered who he was and what had happened. In his happy, post-orgasmic daze, he lifted his head and watched Sebastian squeeze the last drops of cum out of his cock with his hand. “Sorry, I wanted to let you know that I was about to come, but it happened so fast...”

Sebastian had an amused smile on his face. “Babe, you don’t have to do that. First of all, I can tell when you’re close and, secondly, your jizz is my reward. I won’t be offended if you don’t want to swallow mine, but I will be offended if I don’t get to swallow yours.” He climbed back on top of Blaine and pulled him up by his tie. “All of it.”

Blaine followed the tug on his tie and sat up to meet Sebastian in a heated kiss. When they parted, Blaine smiled at Sebastian, still feeling the pleasant aftermath of the best orgasm he’d ever had. “You know that you’re really, really, _really_ good at that, right?”

Sebastian gave him a cocky grin. “The best. If you ever try this with another guy, you’ll just be disappointed.”

“Which means that I’ll also learn from the best. Good for you,” Blaine replied with a smirk and realized that Sebastian was still wearing his pants, which seemed entirely wrong. He pushed Sebastian down into a lying position and pulled his jeans and underwear off. Blaine was already getting aroused again when his eyes landed on Sebastian’s stiff cock.

Sebastian looked pleasantly surprised. “Oh, you already want to show me what you’ve learned?”

“I truly can’t wait,” Blaine purred. “Anything I need to know?” 

Sebastian grinned broadly. “You just have to treat that dick as if it was the most precious and delicious thing in the world. You can add ball play and eye contact. Uhm... remember to be careful with your teeth. Don’t be afraid of your gag reflex, it’s normal and will get weaker over time. And don’t force yourself to do anything you don’t wanna do because the most important thing is that you’re into it, otherwise it’s not much fun for either of us.”

“Got it,” Blaine said with a chuckle. “I think I should take the tie off for this.”

“But it looks so good on you,” Sebastian protested. When he saw Blaine’s insecure smile, he quickly added, “Naahh, just kidding, take it off, hon!”

Blaine loosened the tie, pulled it over his head and threw it at Sebastian, who caught it, laughing. With a pounding heart, Blaine lowered his head towards Sebastian’s groin. He had watched guys do this in porn so often and he had so often tried to imagine what it would be like to take a dick into his mouth. Now it was finally happening. And it wasn’t just any dick, it was Sebastian’s.

Before he could do anything else, Blaine looked at Sebastian’s hard cock in awe. He admired the veins running along the strong shaft, all the way up to its rosy and soft head, circumcised just like his own. The slight upwards curve was another thing they had in common, but while Sebastian’s dick wasn’t really longer than Blaine’s when erect, it was a bit girthier. 

“What are you doing?” Sebastian’s question tore Blaine out of his reverie. “You look like you’ve never seen a dick before,” Sebastian said with a chuckle.

Blaine’s cheeks flushed. “Well... Not this close, to be honest. I’m sorry, I’m...”

“By all means, take your time. It’s kinda cute,” Sebastian said grinning and leaned back on his pillow. 

“Cute? I think I like it more when you call me sexy.” Blaine laughed, but then he tried to pull himself together. This wasn’t about him. He wanted to give Sebastian just as much pleasure as he’d given him.

Blaine leaned down and kissed the base of Sebastian’s cock just above his balls. Then he circled his tongue around that spot and moved up the underside of the shaft, still circling. Feeling with his tongue how hard Sebastian was for him was amazing. His skin tasted deliciously salty and there was another alluring taste and smell that just felt manly and right. 

Blaine hungrily wrapped his lips around the tip of Sebastian’s cock, gradually sliding it into his mouth. He instantly loved the feeling of being filled up and he loved Sebastian’s groans of pleasure even more. Blaine tried to imitate what Sebastian had done, but he also tried to come up with new movements and patterns that he thought might feel good. He wrapped his fingers around Sebastian’s balls and squeezed them.

“Mmm, babe, that’s so good... Oh baby... You’re a natural,” Sebastian moaned and buried his hands in Blaine’s hair. Encouraged by Sebastian’s reaction, Blaine tried to take his cock deeper and faster. That’s when the gag reflex kicked in for the first time causing Blaine’s eyes to tear up, but he didn’t care. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was Sebastian’s pleasure.

Blaine could feel Sebastian’s cock twitch in his mouth and looked up at him. They locked eyes and that’s what pushed Sebastian over the edge. Blaine felt Sebastian’s cock spill its warm load into his mouth and he understood immediately what Sebastian had meant by calling it a reward. Swallowing his cum was such a turn-on. It made Blaine feel submissive and powerful at the same time.

When Blaine had sucked it all off, he let go of Sebastian’s cock and looked at it again. Covered in his spit, it was glossy and tempting. Blaine was almost as aroused as he’d been before his orgasm.

He lay down next to Sebastian and smiled at him. It was incredibly rewarding to see him so spent and satisfied.

“I can’t believe this was your first time. You were so fucking good,” Sebastian said grinning, his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he turned his body towards Blaine, laid his hand on Blaine’s cheek and leaned in for a slow kiss. 

When Sebastian pulled back, he looked at Blaine with a thoughtful, serious expression that gradually melted back into a smile. “You know... Whatever I do with you feels like a first for me, too. Everything is different with you... better.”

Blaine smiled at Sebastian and nodded. He understood, even though Sebastian didn’t say out loud what the reason for that was. 

Sebastian was no longer just chasing physical pleasure. What they were doing meant something. There was a spark between them. There had been sparks flying between them all along.

And while Sebastian had been running from them, only gradually slowing down to surrender, Blaine had already caught fire.


	15. A Word That Starts With B

“That was perfect! Absolutely fantastic, all of you! Great work!” Wes was beaming. 

The Warblers had just performed _Titanium_ without Wes, who had been standing in front of them, watching everyone with heightened scrutiny. He seemed more than pleased.

“If you all sing and dance like that at Sectionals, they’ll probably let us skip Regionals and go straight to Nationals. Truly impressive. See you all next week! Oh, Blaine, can I talk to you for a second?”

Hesitantly, Blaine walked up to Wes while the other Warblers were already leaving. He was always nervous when Wes was about to give him personal feedback. Wes’s honesty was usually merciless.

“Blaine, that was incredible. That smile, that _confidence_... I knew you had it in you. But can you tell me what happened? What’s your secret? You’re like a whole new person. Maybe next time a Warbler has problems reaching his full potential, I’ll be able to help him if I know what did the trick for you,” Wes said, visibly excited.

“Uhm... I don’t know,” Blaine stammered, an embarrassed smile on his lips. Of course, he knew very well what had caused a change in him. His secret was called Sebastian. 

Ever since Blaine and Sebastian had opened up to each other about fears, jealousy, parents and their mutual affection, Blaine had been feeling an optimism and lightheartedness that he hadn’t felt ever since the attack. It was as if a veil of insecurity and doubt that had kept them apart before had been lifted. 

“It’s something very personal,” Blaine said, hoping that Wes wouldn’t dig any deeper.

“Alright,” Wes replied, clearly a little disappointed. “I would just like to say that you look very happy and it adds to your performance. Keep it up.”

“Uhm... Sure. I’ll do my best. See you next week.” Blaine said with a forced smile and left the room. Wes was still weirding him out sometimes.

Sebastian was waiting for Blaine in the hallway and gave him a quick kiss after making sure that nobody else was around.

“Did he finally ask you to marry him?” Sebastian joked on the way back to the dorms.

“No, but he is very pleased to see me happy and he wanted to know what my secret is, so he can help other Warblers reach their full potential, too,” Blaine said with a chuckle.

“Your secret? Getting laid? Yeah, I’m sure that would help other Warblers, too.”

Blaine rammed his elbow into Sebastian’s side, laughing. “Shut up! You know that’s not the reason why I’m happy. Well... at least not the only reason.”

Sebastian reached for Blaine’s hand and stopped walking. Surprised, Blaine turned around to him and looked at Sebastian’s hand holding his.

“I’m glad to hear that you’re happy,” Sebastian said with an illegible expression on his face. “Which makes this even harder...”

Blaine gazed up at Sebastian, puzzled. “What’s up?”

“I know I said we could go to that gay club in Columbus this weekend, but I totally forgot my sister’s birthday. It’s on Saturday, so I gotta go home over the weekend. I’ll leave tomorrow after class. I know it sucks, first you, now me. Our timing is really bad when it comes to weekend plans.”

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Sebastian. For a brief moment, he had fallen into old habits and had expected Sebastian to say something terrible and hurtful. “Oh, that’s fine. We can go the weekend after. Or whenever, I don’t care.”

Sebastian seemed to be just as relieved. “Okay. I thought you might be mad.”

“Hey, I know you think that I’m complicated, but I’m not _that_ complicated,” Blaine said with a sassy grin. “Why have you never mentioned that you have a sister?”

Sebastian let go of Blaine’s hand and they walked on. “I don’t know. Why have you never mentioned that you have a brother who is the star of quite a number of annoying TV commercials? I had to learn about that on the internet. He’s kinda hot, by the way. Not nearly as hot as you though. Obviously.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “I hate my brother and I wish he didn’t exist. So I don’t talk about him much. What’s your excuse? Do you feel the same way about your sister?”

“Not at all. She’s a pretty awesome kid.”

“Sounds like she’s a _little_ sister.”

“Turning twelve on Saturday,” Sebastian confirmed. 

Blaine couldn’t help but smile. Judging by the look on his face, Sebastian seemed to be very fond of his sister. It was adorable.

They stopped in front of Blaine’s room.

“I’m looking forward to meeting her someday,” Blaine said cheerfully. “So, see you at dinner in half an hour?”

“Yeah. And I’m hoping to see you in my bed afterwards,” Sebastian replied with a smirk.

Blaine cocked his head and grinned. “Sure.”

* * *

Although Blaine was missing Sebastian, he tried to make the most of his weekend. He hadn’t spent much time with Nick lately, so it felt good to hang out with him again. They went to a college football game, to Mitch’s and played pool with some other Warblers in one of the common rooms.

On Sunday evening, Blaine went to check if Sebastian was back. He found him in his room, video chatting with a girl on his laptop. Blaine had almost left the room again when he heard Sebastian say, “Oh, see, here he is! Blaine, come on, I gotta introduce you to somebody.”

Blaine went back inside, closed the door and hesitantly walked over to Sebastian until he could see himself standing behind Sebastian in the little window on the screen.

“Hi Blaine,” the girl said with a broad grin and waved her hands as if the verbal greeting wasn’t enough. She had two thick, blond braids and a pretty face that looked a lot like Sebastian’s.

“Hi,” Blaine replied and smiled into the camera. “Who are you?”

“I’m Sally,” the girl said. “I’m Bash’s sister. I know who you are.”

Blaine shot Sebastian a surprised look before he turned back to the screen. “You do?”

“You’re my brother’s boyfriend. He showed me a picture of you and he said I could talk to you tonight. Why didn’t you come to my birthday party? I had a Batman cake. Bash, show him.”

“Oh, he... Oh wow, that’s an awesome cake,” Blaine stammered, looking at the photo on Sebastian’s phone. For some reason he couldn’t quite grasp yet, the twelve-year old had made him blush. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was invited. Happy belated birthday! I hope you had a fun party.”

“Yes, I did, but now I really want to meet you. Bash said you’ll come for Thanksgiving. I’m really looking forward to that! I can show you my horse,” Sally gushed with excitement.

With a brief look at Blaine, who was clearly baffled, Sebastian quickly chimed in. “Slow down, munchkin. I haven’t even asked him about that yet. So now you’ve seen him and I think it’s bedtime. We can talk again soon, okay?”

“Bedtime? I’m twelve! Mom said I can stay up longer now!” Sally seemed seriously outraged.

“Yeah, but it’s bedtime for me,” Sebastian said, grinning. “Classes start very early at Dalton, even earlier than at your school.”

“Will Blaine sleep in your bed tonight?” Sally asked, determined not to end the call anytime soon. Blaine stared at Sebastian, jaw dropped.

Sebastian sighed, slightly annoyed. “I told you not to talk about that - ever. I’ll get into big trouble if you do because all the boys have to sleep in their own bed at Dalton. I told you that. No further questions now. Good night.”

“Good night, Blaine,” Sally said happily, waving into the camera.

“Bye Sally, nice meeting you,” Blaine said quickly before Sebastian ended the call and slammed his laptop shut.

“Sorry about that.” Sebastian got up from his chair and laid his arms around Blaine, smiling. “I missed you,” he whispered and pressed his lips on Blaine’s for a slow kiss.

After a few seconds, Blaine pulled away and jumped onto Sebastian’s bed. “So let me get this straight. You told your sister that I’m your boyfriend and that we sleep in the same bed?” he asked with a grin. That news was as surprising as it was amusing.

Sebastian sat down next to Blaine. He appeared to be mildly embarrassed. “She asked who I was texting with at some point and I had to explain to her who you are somehow. The word _friend_ didn’t quite cut it. Jeez, she’s twelve years old, I couldn’t think of a better way to describe it.”

“So is this what we are? Boyfriends? I’m just asking because I promised I’d tell my mom once we are,” Blaine said with a cheeky smile.

“If you _have_ to put a label on everything, go ahead. If you’re looking for a boyfriend and I want to be what you’re looking for, I guess that’s what I am then, babe. Simple logic.”

Blaine was quietly freaking out inside. Sebastian was such an unromantic dork, but he still wanted to cover him with kisses. He was officially Sebastian’s boyfriend. Blaine’s heart was jumping in his chest.

“Anyways, she asked me if boyfriends sleep together in one bed, just like mom and dad do, and what was I supposed to tell her? This poor kid goes to a Catholic school. Someone has to tell her about real life. So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll gradually tell her everything she needs to know.”

Blaine tried hard to pull himself together again. “Okay... Do your parents know about that?”

“Sure, my mom is glad that she doesn’t have to do it herself.”

“That’s understandable,” Blaine said, reminded of the embarrassing talk with his mother not that long ago. “So and what was that about Thanksgiving, _Bash_?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “So, first of all, my mom suggested that you could join us for Thanksgiving because I may have mentioned to her that you’re my boyfriend. I had to because I wanted to convince her not to make any further donations to old Rick. Anyways, Sally overheard my mom’s idea and she already has it all planned out now. She even picked a horse for you,” he explained with a sheepish smile.

“Okay...” Blaine was pretty much speechless. 

“Secondly,” Sebastian continued, “I hate about every nickname for the name Sebastian, but Sally is allowed to call me Bash because she is obsessed with superheroes and thinks that I look like the Flash from that series. She even made me sign a poster of him, that’s how insane she is. If you want to call me by a nickname, you’ll have to file a written request with a detailed explanation on why you think I should allow you to call me whatever terrible name you’ve come up with.”

“I have to agree, you bear a striking resemblance to the Flash, Bash,” Blaine admitted, laughing. “And I want permission to call you Seb, Bas, Bash and honeybun.”

“You gotta be kidding. Forget it!” Sebastian said, trying to act as if he wasn’t amused.

“Why? You started to call me babe and baby without asking permission.”

“You can’t compare that. You like it when I call you babe.”

“I never said that! Well, I do like it, but...”

“Okay, I approve of Seb, but don’t ever call me Sebby. Bas and Bash are out of the question because your name and almost all your nicknames start with B. I might as well call you B from now on. And now let’s end this _ridiculous_ conversation about nicknames before I regret calling you my boyfriend. So, would you be interested in joining us for Thanksgiving?”

Blaine, still on cloud seven, nodded quickly. “I would love to. I just have to check with my mom. I’m sure she wants to see me, too.”

“You can invite your mom, but not your dad. Anyways, Thanksgiving is still more than a month away. Before that, there’s going to be something else I wanted to tell you about. Do you like Halloween?”

“Yeah, I do. Is there gonna be a party here at Dalton?”

“Probably, but I’m sure it’s lame. I never go to so-called parties at Dalton. I was thinking we could go to the one at Beaverton.”

A sassy grin appeared on Blaine’s face. “Under one condition.”

“Which one?”

“You dress up as the Flash!”

The frown on Sebastian’s face said it all. “Oh my god... seriously? Uff... I don’t want to be mistaken for that whiny loser. I don’t think there’s a single episode where he doesn’t tear up.”

“Hey! You’re being mean,” Blaine countered, slightly outraged. “I like that he’s emotional. I can... relate to that.” 

Sebastian seemed to notice that his words had hit a nerve with Blaine. “Babe, to be clear, even though I, myself, haven’t cried a single tear in my entire life, I have nothing against men who cry. You can cry all you want. It can be healthy. But _that_ guy...”

Blaine didn’t feel like discussing his fragile emotional state again, so he tried to distract Sebastian from that topic with a kiss. “Pretty please? I just wanna see your ass in that suit.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re coming from,” Sebastian said with a broad grin. “Okay. But only if you wear a sexy costume, too. You could dress up as... Tarzan? Half-naked Freddie Mercury? Stripper cop? The Hulk? We could paint your body green, but the most important thing would be those really tight pants...”

“All these ideas are awful,” Blaine laughed. “I wanna be a superhero, too. Maybe... Nightbird?”

“You still haven’t shown me those sketches you told me about. If his suit is sexy, that’s fine by me.”

“I guess I’ll still have to work on that.” Blaine paused and gave Sebastian a pensive look. “About that stripper cop idea... Is that something we could try... in private sometime?”

“Absolutely,” Sebastian said with a provocative smile and threw himself at Blaine to give him a steamy kiss.


	16. Nightbird Falling

While hanging out with Nick over the weekend, Blaine had avoided talking about Sebastian. But with every passing day, Sebastian was becoming a bigger, more important part of Blaine’s life and it was getting more and more unbearable that his roommate and best friend didn’t like his boyfriend. Blaine knew that Nick was wrong about Sebastian and he decided to make it his mission to bring them together. 

He managed to convince Sebastian to join him at Nick’s table at meal times and, fortunately, Sebastian didn’t behave like a jerk. Instead, he cracked jokes that made the others laugh, even Nick. Blaine watched happily as the ice was slowly breaking.

Blaine and Sebastian didn’t actively tell everyone that they were a couple, but they didn’t hide it either after Blaine had assured Sebastian multiple times that he wanted people to know about his sexual orientation. He was feeling safe at last.

Eventually, all the Warblers knew and their reaction was positive, just as Sebastian had predicted. Only Hunter kept giving them spiteful looks, but that was nothing new.

Sebastian even started to come over to Blaine and Nick’s room to hang out with both of them. When he asked Nick if he wanted to come to the Halloween party at Beaverton, Nick got so excited that Blaine was sure Sebastian had finally won him over.

Halloween happened to be on a Saturday. The boys left Dalton before dinner, their costumes hidden in a large gym bag. They changed in Trish’s dorm room and as soon as the last zipper of his Flash costume was closed, Sebastian already started to complain.

“This crappy suit is the most uncomfortable piece of shit I’ve ever worn. I fucking hate it. I hope it won’t cause permanent damage to my junk. Ugh... Babe, I’m only doing this for you and you owe me now, big time,” he said with a disgusted look into Trish’s mirror while styling his hair with an unhealthy amount of hairspray.

Blaine was feeling comfortable in his Nightbird costume that consisted of simple black pants, boots and leather gloves, a black shirt and body armor with a cape that he had found at a costume store. The plastic body armor was different shades of blue with silver shoulders, while the cape was black on the outside and cyan on the inside. Blaine had painted his Nightbird logo on the back of the cape, a black crow inside the white silhouette of the moon.

“Why are you styling your hair so elaborately? Aren’t you going to wear your mask?” Blaine asked, looking at Sebastian’s face in the mirror. He had decided against wearing a helmet or mask and had just gelled his hair back as usual. 

“I’m not gonna sacrifice my hair to this costume. This hood or mask or whatever this is will stay off.”

Nick, dressed up as a classic zombie, stared at Sebastian with wide eyes. “You really look like...”

“Yeah, I know,” Sebastian cut in with an annoyed look. “Can we maybe not talk about my... Wow, B, you look stellar!”

“Thank you. So do you, Scarlet Speedster,” Blaine said smiling and gave Sebastian a peck on the cheek. “Are we ready to go? Where’s Trish?”

Seconds later, Trish, who had changed in the bathroom, entered the room. She was wearing a mermaid costume, consisting of a tight, green fishtail dress and a violett shell bra. Blaine had never seen her with her hair down and her ginger mane was quite impressive. Even Blaine thought she looked sexy, so he wasn’t surprised to see Nick gawking at her in awe.

“Oh hello, Arielle,” Sebastian said with a grin. “You almost make me wish I was fishsexual.”

“Ugh, shut up! You’re gross! And you’re also officially taken,” she said, laughing. “Okay, let’s go, guys.”

* * *

The party was taking place in the same common room as the last. This time, the lighting was even dimmer and there were pumpkins and fake spiderwebs all over the place. The snacks ranged from mummy hotdogs to spider cupcakes.

After a few rounds of drinks and snacks, most people started to dance to the music that was just as loud as the last time. Trish quickly found out that her fishtail dress wasn’t made for dancing, but that didn’t keep her from having fun. Blaine noticed that Nick kept staring at her as she was chatting with her friends.

“Do you like her?” Blaine asked with an innocent smile.

Nick’s head shot around to him. “What? No! I mean... she seems nice, but I bet she’s quite a bit older... and she’s taller than me.”

Blaine laughed. “So what? You should go and talk to her.”

“Uhm... Look, there’s Thad, I’ll go and say hi,” Nick said quickly and disappeared into the crowd.

Blaine shrugged it off and turned to Sebastian. “Do you want another drink? I could use a... Oh hi.”

A curly Super Mario with a fake mustache was suddenly standing in front of them. “Hi. Trish told me you’re a thing now. So it’s true. Congrats,” he said dryly.

Even despite the bad lighting and the costume, Blaine recognized him immediately. He had looked into these blue eyes in amazement for quite a while. “Jeremiah, good to see you. Uhm, thanks.”

Jeremiah turned to Sebastian and staggered closer, obviously quite drunk already. “I’ve been wanting to message you about this for a while now, but it’s always best to do this in person. You are a fucking bastard. Next time you try to set two people up, better decide beforehand if you want one of them for yourself.”

Sebastian’s surprised look quickly turned into a smirk. “Cool down, Jay. You spent, like, two hours with him. I’m sorry I made you waste two hours of your life. Get over it.”

Jeremiah was clearly angry, even his fake mustache was trembling. “Yeah, fuck you. I wasted more than two hours dealing with that shit.” He looked back at Blaine. “And you, I thought you had better taste. Well, good luck to the happy couple,” he snapped and vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

Taken aback, Blaine stared at Sebastian, who had started to laugh. 

“What a scene! Hilarious. Blame it on the alcohol... How is it my fault that this wimp apparently started crushing on you after five minutes of chatting? Babe, next time you talk to a gay dude, please wear a mask to hide that pretty face of yours. Good thing I’m not the jealous type.”

“Uhm... You literally tried to set us up, so I kinda get where he’s coming from,” Blaine said with mixed feelings. “It sucked for the both of us.”

Sebastian’s look turned pensive. “Okay, I’m sorry. But in my defense, I was having issues at the time.”

“Maybe you should tell him that, too.”

Thankfully, they had to change the topic as Nick, Thad, Trish and two of her friends approached. Sebastian excused himself and disappeared into the crowd. 

Even though he believed that he hadn’t done anything wrong, Blaine was feeling bad for Jeremiah. Sebastian was probably looking for Jeremiah and, for a moment, he considered going after him. But the potential for aggression was high already and he was sure that his presence would make everything worse, so he stayed with his friends, a tense feeling in his gut.

After a while, Sebastian returned to them. For some reason, he was suddenly wearing the mask. 

Blaine instantly assumed that Sebastian was trying to hide cuts or bruises from a fight. “What happened?” he asked with a worried expression on his face.

“Why did you make me wear this?” Sebastian asked Blaine with slight frustration. “At least five chicks asked me if I’m Brent Fluster or whatever that dude’s name is. As if an actor would go to a Halloween party in his fucking work clothes. Now I feel like I actually have to hide my identity. And my hair is ruined.”

“I think this mask looks good on you!” Trish said, giggling. “I kinda wanna see you hang from the ceiling and kiss Blaine upside-down.”

Sebastian snorted dismissively. “You should get your superheroes straight. You’re talking about Spiderman. He’s not here today.”

“Oops. They all look the same to me,” she said, laughing, and turned back to Nick, who had finally managed to engage her in a conversation.

“Did you talk to Jeremiah?” Blaine asked with a concerned look at Sebastian.

“Yeah... I apologized and he promised not to drive home. He’s completely wasted. All good now though.”

Blaine smiled, feeling relieved. Whatever Jeremiah was or had been going through, it couldn’t be that bad. They hadn’t even seen each other ever since that party.

Pleased to finally see Sebastian wear his Flash costume properly, Blaine took a good look at him. “Trish is right, you look awesome with this mask. But you know what I like best about this costume?” He stepped closer to Sebastian and let his left hand slide down Sebastian’s back until it rested on his ass. “It’s just like I thought. It makes your butt look incredible.”

“While you’re hiding  _ your _ incredible ass under a cape. The world is unfair,” Sebastian said with a fake frown.

Grinning, Blaine leaned up to Sebastian’s right ear and whispered, “I’ll happily take all of this off for you once we’re back home.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Sebastian said with unexpected urgency and took Blaine by the hand.

* * *

As soon as they were back in Sebastian’s room, Blaine crushed his mouth on Sebastian’s and cupped his ass with both hands. It didn’t only look great, the suit’s leathery material made it feel incredibly firm and alluring.

“Do you want my ass, babe?” Sebastian purred between kisses.

Blaine pulled away and glared at him with a surprised yet lustful gleam in his eyes. “You mean...?”

Sebastian nodded, tore his mask off and pushed Blaine onto the bed with a seductive smile on his lips. “You want to fuck me, huh?”

Blaine’s pulse was racing. Over the past weeks, he’d slept in Sebastian’s bed more often than in his own, but they hadn’t gone further than sucking each other off. Sebastian hadn’t pressed for more, obviously waiting for Blaine to make the first step.

So far, Blaine hadn’t made that step mainly for one dumb reason: He was afraid of disappointing Sebastian. He knew that his fear was irrational, but it was threatening nevertheless. What if his lack of skill and inevitable nervousness would turn out to be a deal breaker for Sebastian? Blaine had read about performance anxiety, which seemed scary, and bottoming seemed even scarier. There was just so much that could go wrong.

But when he looked at his boyfriend on top of him, smoking hot with his messy hair and that tight, scarlet suit, Blaine’s desire for Sebastian made him forget all of his insecurities. 

“I really do,” he said with a timid smile.

Sebastian pressed a kiss on Blaine’s lips and jumped up. “Alright, I’ll be right back.” He grabbed something from his closet and hurried out of the room.

Blaine was lying on Sebastian’s bed with a pounding heart and a rock-hard boner in his pants. He stared at the ceiling, trying to keep his nerve. The longer Sebastian was gone, the more aware Blaine became of his doubts. He closed his eyes and tried to distract himself by picturing Sebastian’s ass in his sexy costume.

Finally, Blaine heard the door being opened, closed and locked. Sebastian jumped on top of Blaine again, still wearing the suit.

“Sorry about that. It’s just that... this usually requires some preparation. As tempting as spontaneous sex is, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, you don’t learn that from porn... or fanfiction, or whatever you jerk off to.”

“Okay... What an invaluable lesson,” Blaine said with a grin, trying to cover up his nervousness.

“You can thank me later. Where were we?” Sebastian lowered his lips to Blaine’s and started to kiss him with a lot of tongue and passion.

When Blaine cupped Sebastian’s ass again with his hands, a strong surge of lust swept through him and he’d already forgotten that Sebastian had been gone. He searched Sebastian’s back and chest for a zipper. “How do I open this?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, that’s not so easy. Let me take care of that.” Sebastian sat up and started to remove his costume. A few seconds later, he had taken the suit off and tossed it on the ground. “I’ll never wear that again. Ever.”

Blaine laughed. “Not even for a sexy role play? I’ll even dress up as the Hulk and paint myself green for you if I get to see your ass in that Flash suit again.”

“Well then... maybe.”

With some help from Sebastian, Blaine stripped his costume off as well. When they were both naked, Blaine pushed Sebastian back onto the bed and climbed on top of him, kissing him wildly.

Suddenly hesitating, Blaine looked down at Sebastian with a doubtful look on his face.

“What’s up, handsome?” Sebastian asked and traced his fingers across Blaine’s chest. 

“Do you think I could... hurt you? What... what if I do something wrong?” Blaine stammered in a low voice.

Sebastian smiled at him and shook his head. “No, baby. You really can’t do anything wrong.”

“Okay,” Blaine whispered and nodded.

Sebastian reached over to his nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lube. “You just have to use enough of this. And... there’s something else.” He looked at Blaine with a serious expression on his face. “I got tested  _ again _ and there was nothing. I mean, I always used condoms with other guys, including for oral. I actually never even swallowed anyone’s jizz before yours.”

“You didn’t?” Blaine asked, surprised.

“Of course, I didn’t. I told you I was always careful... except with you.” Sebastian suddenly looked upset. “To be honest, that makes me feel pretty reckless and I’m sorry.”

Blaine silenced him with a soft kiss. “It’s not like I didn’t know what I was doing. It wasn’t just your decision. You said you always used protection and your tests were negative. And we’re exclusive. I trust you.”

Sebastian looked relieved. “Okay... So, do you think we should...?”

“Honey, you’re more paranoid than me,” Blaine said, a playful smile on his lips. “I swear I thought this through when I wasn’t horny. And you even got tested again. I think we’re fine. And by the way, this is the second time you almost ruined the mood tonight. Can we do this now before I change my mind? This is kinda stressful for me.”

“Stressful? Oh please. Relax, babe. I’m sure you’re as good at fucking as you are at sucking,” Sebastian said with a smirk. He already seemed to have regained his confidence.

“Okay, should I start with my fingers?” Blaine asked, sliding them along Sebastian’s stiff cock towards his balls. He was getting mildly anxious again.

“I don’t think I’ll need much foreplay, but yeah. As long as you use enough lube, you can do to my hole whatever you want.”

Blaine reached for the bottle of lube and squeezed some onto his fingers. Then he lay down next to Sebastian and reached between his boyfriend’s spread legs. Blaine found Sebastian’s hole and circled his index finger around it for a while. He watched Sebastian’s reaction as he started to press his finger against the entrance. Sebastian smiled and nodded. 

Initially, there was some resistance, but Blaine was able to slip the tip of his finger inside without much pressure. He was amazed by how hot and tight Sebastian felt inside. It was almost unimaginable that his dick would fit into this hole, but the thought of thrusting into it made him break into a sweat. 

Meanwhile, Sebastian let out a soft moan and Blaine asked him nervously, “Are you okay?” 

Sebastian chuckled. “Babe, that’s really sweet, but I’m not exactly a virgin. For now, just assume that I like what you’re doing because I do. Just start to stretch it a little.”

Blaine did as he was told and started to move his finger in and out until he was able to add another finger. Sebastian seemed to be watching Blaine’s reaction just like Blaine was watching his.

“Okay, that’s enough, I really want your cock now,” Sebastian said a few minutes later. He had a longing, almost desperate look on his face.

Blaine climbed between Sebastian’s legs and took a deep breath. His nervousness was written all over him. 

“Baby,” Sebastian whispered and sat up to kiss Blaine softly. “Chill. You can’t do anything wrong. I want you to enjoy this.”

Blaine looked into Sebastian’s eyes and nodded, a soft smile on his lips. He understood that he didn’t have to prove anything. 

“Now lube up and fuck me, okay?” Sebastian grinned and lay down again. “As long as you go slow at the beginning, you can do whatever you want. Pound me as hard as you can - I guarantee you won’t hurt me.”

Although Blaine would have preferred a more romantic tone, Sebastian’s words were turning him on so much that his doubts were all but forgotten. He applied a generous amount of awfully cold lube to his dick and moved forward until the tip of it was poking against Sebastian’s entrance. 

Kneeling between Sebastian’s legs, Blaine looked down at him and marveled at the sight. His eyes wandered from Sebastian’s balls and hard cock up to his broad chest and his beautiful face. Everything about him was so arousing that Blaine couldn’t hold back anymore. He just had to thrust into him.

Blaine grabbed Sebastian’s thighs and moved his hips forward, entering him slowly. There was an initial resistance again, but once the tip of his cock was inside Sebastian, the resistance turned into a more than pleasant grip around him. He slowly pushed forward.

The sensation he felt was incomparable. On the one hand, there was the heat and tightness of Sebastian’s body around his cock, the incredibly amazing friction when he moved back and thrust into him again, every time a little deeper. On the other hand, Blaine felt so much more than physical pleasure. Part of him was inside of Sebastian and Sebastian seemed to want nothing more than that. There was an entirely new connection between them.

When Blaine was fully inside Sebastian, he stopped thrusting, leaned forward and kissed Sebastian. Their tongues slid against and around each other as Sebastian laid his hands on Blaine’s ass and pulled him even deeper into himself.

A shiver ran through Blaine and he felt an overwhelming urge to move again. He pulled away from the kiss and looked into Sebastian’s eyes. They were full of desire. 

“Is everything okay? Does it feel good?” Blaine asked, a little out of breath already.

“Yeah, it feels really good, but you can go faster now. Show me what you got, stud,” Sebastian said teasingly, with a seductive smile on his face.

Blaine sat up again, grabbed Sebastian’s thighs and thrust into him harder and faster. The sound of his groin pounding against Sebastian’s ass, Sebastian’s occasional groans of pleasure, the sight of the stunningly handsome man below him... All of that and the amazing feeling in his body led to an eruption of pleasure so intense that Blaine fell forward and had to catch himself with his hands on the bed as he spilled his release inside Sebastian.

Panting and covered in sweat, he finally collapsed on top of Sebastian and pressed his face against the side of Sebastian’s neck, still inside him. For a few blissful moments, he didn’t know where his body ended and Sebastian’s began.

Sebastian wrapped his arms around him and whispered, “Don’t move.”

They stayed like that for a while until Blaine’s erection had mostly subsided. He pulled out and cleaned both of them with some tissues from the nightstand. 

Sebastian was still lying on the bed, smiling at Blaine. “Man, I was close, too. That was so good.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t last longer,” Blaine said, his heart suddenly sinking. 

Sebastian pulled Blaine back down until he was lying next to him again and shook his head. “Don’t you dare apologize. I didn’t expect you to last half as long.” Sebastian smiled at him, his eyes full of affection. “This felt... really special. Because it was you. Inside me. It was actually amazing.” He chuckled. “And you looked so hot. I’ve never been much of a bottom, but in case this turns out to be what you prefer, I think I’d even be okay with it. What was it like for you?”

Blaine closed his eyes. “I couldn’t begin to describe it. It was just... the best feeling ever.”

He didn’t just mean the overwhelmingly amazing physical feeling of being inside Sebastian. There was so much more to it. The way they had connected. Knowing that Sebastian cared for him. Caring for Sebastian like he did for no one else. All of that.

Blaine didn’t even mind that Sebastian called it fucking. He knew that it was much more than that, not just for him.

He opened his eyes, looked at Sebastian with a smile on his lips, and thought to himself,  _so this is why they call it making love_.


	17. Neon Black

_Blaine was running. All around him, there was darkness and silence. He couldn’t hear anything but his own panting, but he knew they were there. They were after him._

_There were dim street lights in the distance. Blaine had a slight hope that he would be safe if he could reach them. He was running as fast as he could, but he wasn’t gaining any ground. Was he even moving forward at all?_

_All of a sudden, he was standing in the middle of a street. There were three figures on the sidewalk, directly under a street light. One of them was lying on the ground. The other two were going at him, kicking, beating, yelling._

_Blaine had seen it countless times before._ Aiden _, he thought. “No!” he cried out, but no sound left his mouth. He wanted to run towards the attackers, shove them away from the boy lying on the ground, but he couldn’t move._

_The victim was squirming in pain. Blaine could see blood on the sidewalk, he heard the awful snapping sound of breaking bones and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. A wave of desperation made him tremble, but he still couldn’t move._

_Then, one of the attackers pressed his foot on the victim’s neck. “Don’t!” Blaine yelled again, soundlessly._

_When the boy on the ground wasn’t moving anymore, the attackers had enough. Before they left, they turned to Blaine. They didn’t have faces._

_Then they were gone and, somehow, Blaine was able to move again, even though he was slow, very slow._ Aiden _, he thought, sick with fear. He couldn’t see the boy’s face until he had knelt down next to him._

_When Blaine saw the bloodstained, bruised face and the open, lifeless eyes, he froze in shock and his heart shattered into a million pieces._

_It was Sebastian._

“Blaine!” Nick’s voice came from somewhere far, far away. “You have to wake up! Hey!”

Blaine shot up in his bed, gasping as if he had just run for his life. In a way, he had. His entire body was quivering and he was soaked in sweat.

Confused, he stared at Nick, only slowly realizing that he’d been having a nightmare and that what he had seen wasn’t real. The grizzly images were still clear in his head.

Blaine felt Nick’s hand on his shoulder and heard him mumble something that was supposed to comfort him, but Blaine couldn’t understand a single word. Terrible thoughts were racing through his mind and his chest felt awfully tight. He was sick to his stomach.

Still in shock, Blaine couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. He started to sob and shake, covering his face with his palms.

Nick sat down on Blaine’s bed. “Hey... It’s alright now. It was just another nightmare. You haven’t had those in a while.” His voice was calming but not completely without worry.

Only slowly, Blaine regained control over his body. Still sobbing quietly, he removed his hands from his face and stared down at his blanket. It took him a while until he could speak. Pain was still written all over his tear-stained face. 

With a broken voice, he stammered, “It was Sebastian this time... They... They killed him.” 

* * *

When Sebastian entered the music room, Blaine was playing _Yesterday_ by The Beatles on the grand piano. He walked up to him slowly with an intrigued smile on his face.

Blaine briefly stopped singing when he noticed Sebastian, but then he went on to finish the song while Sebastian was watching him, leaning against the grand piano.

“That was pretty amazing. I can’t believe I haven’t heard you play before. How often do you come here to practice?” Sebastian asked as he stepped behind Blaine and laid his hands on his shoulders from behind.

Blaine leaned back against Sebastian and enjoyed the massage Sebastian was giving him. “Mmm... Not that often, but I have music theory and piano class here.”

“I never really come here, but after having heard _that_ I insist you take me with you next time you practice.”

“I don’t get why you don’t take any music classes. You’re wasting your talent.”

Sebastian started to play with Blaine’s collar, loosened his tie and opened the top buttons of Blaine’s shirt. “I told you I’m taking that politics class at Beaverton instead. Also, I’m a Warbler for a reason. It’s not my fault that you stole all my solos.”

“That was a democratic decision. And you’re insane. Who takes university courses before graduating from high school?”

“Smartasses like me.” Sebastian sat down on the floor next to Blaine and looked up to him. “So. You’ve been acting weird all day. What’s wrong?”

Blaine sighed and his gaze dropped to the floor. “I’m just not feeling so well today.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, but... Last night, my mom called and said that my brother is coming home for Thanksgiving. For her, it’s kinda special when the four of us can be together because Cooper lives so far away now. When I said that this is just another reason for me not to come home, she almost started to cry. Now I’m feeling bad for ruining Thanksgiving for her.”

Sebastian gave him a thoughtful look. “Babe, no one in my family will be mad if you don’t join us for Thanksgiving. It was just an idea.”

“That’s not the point,” Blaine said, shaking his head in frustration. “Both our families live in Lima. I could spend some time with mine _and_ with yours, but I don’t want to see my dad and Cooper. My mom knows that and I think she understands me, but we just have a terrible conflict of interest and I don’t know what to do about that.”

Sebastian and Blaine looked at each other for a while without saying anything. Blaine’s expression turned darker by the second.

“That’s not the whole story, is it?”

Blaine’s gaze wandered to the piano keys in front of him. He looked as if he was thinking of something very far away, eyes void of expression. “My mom also told me that she got a call from Aiden’s dad the other day. His parents are suing the guys who attacked us. I’ll have to testify in court soon.”

Sebastian stared at Blaine for a few seconds before he jumped up, squeezed onto the small piano stool next to Blaine and wrapped his arms around him. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry you’ll have to go through that. But... you know, it’s good that they’re doing that. Didn’t your parents want to do that, too?” Sebastian asked in a low voice.

“I talked them out of it,” Blaine replied, almost whispering. Sebastian’s embrace felt good, as always, but being so close to him also brought back the disturbing memories of his nightmare. “I know that they deserve it, but... I was _just_ feeling good again, as if I had left most of it behind. But they’ll make me recall everything, all the details.” Blaine chuckled bitterly. “Aiden, who actually never wanted to see me again, wants to talk to me next time I’m in Lima. That would be Thanksgiving. You know, I was really looking forward to that week, but now it sounds like Thanksgiving will be a horror show... with my stupid family... and Aiden. I don’t wanna talk to him or testify or whatever. I don’t wanna go there again. I can’t do it.” 

Blaine turned his head away from Sebastian. After a while, the silence was interrupted by a barely audible sobbing.

“Blaine, look at me,” Sebastian said softly.

Blaine slowly turned his head back to him. Tears were running down his face.

“I know you can do it,” Sebastian insisted, trying to sound positive, but there was some desperation in his voice. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like, but maybe you can make peace with it once those guys have been brought to justice.”

“Yeah, you _can’t_ imagine,” Blaine said in a shaky voice. “Last night, I had another nightmare.” He looked at Sebastian, his eyes pools of pain. “It was the same thing all over again, they were going after me, but this time... This time, it wasn’t me or Aiden on the ground. They were beating _you_ up and... at the end, you were... dead.”

Sebastian looked shocked for a moment, but he quickly pulled himself together. “It was just a nightmare,” he said in a low, soothing voice and smiled at Blaine. “Everything’s fine now. But why didn’t you come over to my room last night after that happened?”

Blaine lowered his gaze again and pointed at his tear-stained face. “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

Sebastian’s smile faded and turned into a frown. “I told you I was shitting around when I said that the Flash was a whiny loser. Did you really think I’d mock you for this? Babe, look at me.” Sebastian slipped his hand under Blaine’s chin, lifted it gently and looked him in the eyes. “Even if you really have to face your dad, your brother and Aiden, I swear this is going to be your best Thanksgiving ever. I’ll make sure of that. You should be looking forward to it.”

Sebastian’s eyes were so full of determination that Blaine had no choice but to believe him. Sebastian smiled at him again and started to wipe Blaine’s tears away with his bare hands. “And that nightmare is just bullshit. You saw me win in Fight Club last week, right? It takes more than a few idiots to knock me out. But I can still imagine that it was creepy. Nightmares can feel pretty real.”

Blaine was slowly feeling better. His lips even curled into a soft smile as well. “I think I gave Nick the shock of his life.”

“Poor guy. Hey, you know what?” Sebastian took Blaine’s hands into his. “It’s Friday and we still haven’t been to that club we wanted to go to. How about we chill tonight and go there tomorrow? I think you need some new impressions. Makes it easier not to think about all that crap that belongs in the past.”

Sebastian’s excitement was contagious and the tightness in Blaine’s chest gradually disappeared. It was as if Sebastian had single-handedly pushed a dark, heavy cloud out of the way so that the bright rays of confidence could get through to Blaine again.

 _I love you_ , he thought. “Thank you,” he said and squeezed Sebastian’s hands.

* * *

After their talk, everything seemed a little more hopeful again. Blaine was even looking forward to going to Columbus when he walked over to Sebastian’s room on Saturday night.

“Oh, I’m going out with curly Blaine tonight. I like that,” Sebastian said with a grin and greeted Blaine by running his fingers through the dark curls.

“Yeah, I thought this makes me look less like a Dalton student,” Blaine said with a chuckle. “So, whose car are we stealing this time?” He knew that Trish would be coming with them, but Sebastian hadn’t mentioned yet how they would get to Columbus.

“Jeremiah is driving,” Sebastian said matter-of-factly as if that wasn’t remotely weird.

“What?” Blaine’s expression was full of surprise and disbelief. “Are you being serious?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Sebastian looked confused for a moment, but then he seemed to understand. “Sorry, Halloween was two weeks ago, you can’t expect me to remember things after such a long time. Jay and I met up a couple of days after the party and he apologized again. We’re bros, no bad feelings. I’m pretty sure he’s over you. We’ll just find him someone else at the club.”

“What a great plan. It’s probably gonna be just as easy as you make it sound,” Blaine said sarcastically.

“That club is gay heaven, seriously. I never left alo-... I mean, people there are really open-minded,” Sebastian said, shrugging.

Blaine gave him a skeptical look. Sebastian’s previous success with other guys was something he didn’t really want to know more about. The story about Connor had been more than enough.

When Sebastian noticed Blaine’s expression, he quickly stepped up to him and wrapped his arms around Blaine’s waist. “This is the first time I won’t care about any of the guys there. Because I have you. They’re gonna be so jealous of my catch.” Sebastian leaned in for a slow kiss.

Suddenly, Sebastian’s phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Trish, telling him that Jeremiah would be there soon.

“Okay, we should leave. We’ll meet them at Trish’s,” Sebastian said after hanging up. As he put on his coat, he took a good look at Blaine, who was wearing a blue letterman jacket over a white t-shirt and yellow pants. “Although the Dalton uniform looks extremely hot on you, I really wish I could see you in your own clothes more often. I dig your style,” he said with a lingering gaze. “Oh man, I’m getting turned on. We should really go now.”

One hour later, they were sitting in Jeremiah’s car on their way to the club. Sebastian had called dibs on the front seat, so Blaine got to chat with Trish in the back.

“Have you been to Neon before?” Trish asked him.

“Is that what the club is called? No, not yet.”

“I think you’ll like it. Last year, we almost went every weekend. Back then, I even still needed a fake ID,” she said grinning. “Does the one Sebastian got for you look anything like you?”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Blaine said and handed it to her.

She looked at the fake ID critically and gave it back to Blaine. “Well, at least the guy’s hair looks a bit like yours. The woman on mine had black hair and a tattoo on her neck.”

Sebastian laughed and turned around to them. “Stop complaining. It got you in every time.”

“And I’m eternally grateful for your criminal connections, Seb,” Trish said with a sigh and gave Blaine a telling look.

Blaine thought it was a good moment to change the topic and ask Trish something he’d been meaning to for a while. “So... Have you been in touch with Nick?”

A smile crossed Trish’s face. “Actually, I have. He’s a really nice guy. But you know, he’s just... so young. I think if we both were ten years older than we are now, it wouldn’t matter so much, but right now it would just be weird.”

Slightly disappointed, Blaine nodded. “I see. You’re probably right. But I think he really likes you.”

“Blaine! I don’t think you should tell me something like that. You’re turning into the careless, gossipy kind of friend that Seb and I are,” she said, laughing. “I bet he likes me because I’m the first girl he’s talked to since August. Straight boys must have a hard life at Dalton.”

“Yeah, those rich, mostly white, straight Dalton boys are really unfortunate,” Sebastian said with a snorting laugh.

“Nick isn’t like that,” Blaine said quickly. He wanted to elaborate so Trish wouldn’t get a wrong idea about his friend, but they had just pulled into the parking lot and he decided to drop the subject.

“Should we leave the jackets in the car?” Jeremiah asked and everyone agreed.

As they walked over to the entrance of the club, Blaine was feeling fairly queasy for two reasons. Firstly, he had never tried to get into a place with a fake ID. Secondly, he still hadn’t really talked to Jeremiah since the Halloween party.

Luckily, getting into the club turned out to be a walk in the park. As Sebastian led the way to the bar next to the main dance floor, Blaine tried to take everything in. Loud electronic music was blaring from the speakers and he felt the bass pulsate through his entire body. It was a lot more intense than at the parties at Beaverton.

The club was decorated with countless neon lights and many guests were wearing glowing neon bracelets. The club was packed and the temperature was soaring. People were dancing all around, guys with guys, girls with girls. Blaine had never seen anything like it and, in those first few minutes at Neon, he could completely understand why Sebastian had called the club gay heaven.

Once they all had a drink in their hands, Blaine gathered his courage and walked up to Jeremiah.

“Hey... I meant to ask if we’re okay,” he said with a sheepish smile on his face. “Sebastian said you guys had a talk, but maybe we should...”

Jeremiah cut in, suddenly looking very embarrassed. “I’m so sorry for what I said that night, I was really drunk. I have to admit that I was a bit shaken after Seb pulled that stunt with us. You know, I really enjoyed our chat.” He gave Blaine a careful smile. “But it’s fine, things turned out differently and I’m not willing to lose any friends over this. On the contrary, maybe you and I... could start over?”

“Absolutely,” Blaine replied with a broad smile.

Before he could say anything else, Sebastian embraced him from behind and thrust his hips against him to the rhythm of the music. “Is he trying to flirt with you again?” Sebastian whispered into his right ear. “This place is known for bringing the worst out of people.”

When Sebastian started to tease his earlobe with his tongue, Blaine laughed and turned around to him. “I thought you weren’t the jealous type.”

“I’m not. But I haven’t spent nearly enough time with you today and I wanna dance,” Sebastian said, still pressing his lower body against Blaine’s, arms wrapped around his waist. 

Blaine lifted his chin to meet Sebastian in a deep kiss. He let the beat of the music take control of his body as all the tension he had felt over the past two days started to fade. Blaine had thought he’d fallen back into a state of misery, but Sebastian had managed to relieve him from it, at least for now. 

“Oh my god, guys, get a room! People are staring at you!” Trish yelled at them, laughing.

Sebastian pulled away from the kiss and grinned at her. “Oh honey, I thrive on envy. Let ‘em stare as long as they don’t start wanking on the dance floor.”

“Ugh, why do you always have to be so gross?” Trish made a face and turned back to Jeremiah.

“I told you these guys would be jealous. You’re by far the hottest guy in the room,” Sebastian said with a smirk. Blaine remembered how much he had hated that smirk. Now he loved it, just like everything else about Sebastian. 

“I don’t know,” Blaine said with a flirtatious smile. “Maybe they’re jealous of _me_ because you look pretty amazing in a tank top.”

Sebastian looked down at his bare arms. “Is it so obvious that I’ve been working out? I just wanna be prepared for beating the shit out of Hunter in Fight Club soon.”

Blaine let his hands slide down Sebastian’s toned upper arms. “Definitely.” He leaned in for another kiss, not caring at all what other people were thinking about them.

They danced together for what seemed like hours. Every now and then, other guys tried to approach them, but every single one was defeated by Sebastian, who stared at them with a look so perfectly condescending and hostile, he must have practiced it in front of a mirror. 

Although Blaine was having the fun of his life, dancing with Sebastian wasn’t easy. The way Sebastian kept rubbing his crotch against Blaine’s thighs and ass turned him on so much that, more than once, he was thinking about dragging Sebastian to the bathroom or outside or anywhere more private. Blaine knew that Sebastian was teasing him on purpose and he loved it.

At some point, they were both so drained that they had to take a break and move to the side of the dance floor. Blaine had already drunk a little more alcohol than he should have. Everything felt more intense than usual and, so far, that had been amazing.

“I need another drink. I’ll get us something. Beer?” Sebastian asked.

Blaine nodded, gave Sebastian a peck on his lips and watched him walk towards the bar. He turned back to the dance floor and watched dozens of entangled, dancing strangers. It was bliss. The music, the vibe, everything free and easy... Blaine had had his doubts when Sebastian had mentioned he wanted to go to a gay club, but now he adored the place. 

Suddenly, Blaine felt a hand on his back. Expecting to see Sebastian, he turned around, smiling, but he was surprised to be looking at the attractive face of a stranger instead. The young man was grinning at him as if they’d known each other for ages. 

“Wow, finally. I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to catch you alone tonight,” the stranger said in a tone that was so flirtatious that it left Blaine staring in mild shock. He wasn’t prepared for this at all.

“Uhm... hi,” Blaine managed to say, an embarrassed smile on his face.

“How are you doing, handsome?” the stranger asked, about to hand Blaine a beer.

Blaine looked at the beer in the guy’s hand and back up into his beautiful brown eyes. “Uhm... Thanks, but my boyfriend is getting me a drink. You should save that for someone else.”

The stranger laughed. “Your boyfriend? Seriously? Come on. I don’t believe that.”

Confused, Blaine took a step back, out of reach. “Why... not? I’ve been dancing with him all night. You must have seen us if you’ve been... watching me.”

“All I saw was that you’re obviously Sebastian’s target tonight. I’ll admit the guy has skills, but you do know that he’s still in high school, right?”

Blaine stared at the stranger, dumbstruck. “What... I... Yeah, so am I.”

The stranger grinned at him, obviously enjoying that Blaine was intimidated by him. “So you’re another Dalton boy. Probably a little Warbler, too? I don’t have a problem with that. What’s your name?”

“I’m Blaine,” Blaine replied mechanically, instantly regretting it. 

All of a sudden, Blaine felt someone else’s arm around his waist. His head shot around and he was relieved to see Sebastian. Blaine felt that Sebastian was pulling him back a bit, away from the stranger.

“Eli. What are you doing, man? Leave my boyfriend alone, you horny bastard,” Sebastian said in a snappy tone, but he was grinning. 

“Boyfriend, really?” Eli asked with an amused look on his face. “That doesn’t sound like you. C’mon, won’t you share this guy with me?”

Blaine felt anger well up inside him and his whole body tensed. He was about to step up to Eli and tell him to shut it when he felt Sebastian’s grip around his waist tighten.

“No sharing. He’s mine. And if you keep behaving like a caveman, I’m not even gonna let you talk with him.” Sebastian was no longer grinning. He looked seriously pissed.

Eli didn’t seem impressed and looked down at Blaine. “Too bad. I was really looking forward to that ass of yours. Your moves on the dance floor were sexy as hell. Oh well, maybe next time... I’m sure I’ll find you online, Blaine Warbler.”

“The hell you will!” Sebastian hissed, shoved the two beer bottles he was holding into Blaine’s hands and pushed Eli back. “Fuck off!”

Eli raised his hands in defense. He was obviously not looking for a fight and stepped away from them. Before he disappeared, he winked at Blaine, grinning as if he owned the place.

When Sebastian turned back to Blaine, still fuming, he was met with a look of outrage.

“You know, I could have done this on my own,” Blaine snapped. “I don’t need you to save me from your ex-fuck buddies.”

Sebastian was taken off guard by Blaine’s anger. “What’s your problem? This guy pissed me off and I wanted him to get out of my sight. And I thought I was doing you a favor, too.”

“I don’t need you to do me any favors,” Blaine hissed, turned away and stormed out.

As he was pushing through the crowd, Blaine had a hard time thinking anything at all. The rage inside him was blind and it had come so suddenly that he was just as shocked about it as Sebastian probably was. Maybe he’d had too much to drink. Maybe Sebastian’s past activities bothered him more than expected, now that he’d met one of the guys.

When Blaine stepped out of the club, the cold air hit his face like a slap. It was a good kind of slap, one he needed to calm down and find clarity. He walked away from the entrance and found a dark, quiet corner. Taking a few deep breaths, he leaned his back against the wall and closed his eyes. 

Blaine was alone for half a minute before he heard hurried footsteps coming closer. He didn’t have to open his eyes to figure out who had come after him.

“Blaine,” Sebastian said in a serious tone. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Sighing, Blaine glared at Sebastian with a frown on his face. “Why did you follow me? I wanna be alone.”

“Yeah, I don’t give a shit. I’m not gonna leave you alone. I wanna know what your problem is.” Sebastian walked up to Blaine until their faces were only inches apart.

“Maybe that’s exactly my problem,” Blaine snapped. “You _saved_ me from Jesse, from Hunter, from... this guy. You didn’t fight me in Fight Club. How damn weak do you think I am? I’m fine on my own. I don’t need you to look out for me or whatever you think you’re doing. I guess it didn’t exactly help that I broke out in tears in front of you over a fucking nightmare.”

Sebastian stared at him with an expression of utter incomprehension. “Seriously? You want a pissing contest now? I wasn’t trying to be patronizing or anything. I just care about you.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t care that much. You make me look like a wussy.”

Sebastian shook his head dismissively and rolled his eyes. “Nobody, I swear, nobody thinks you’re a wussy. Except maybe yourself and that is _your_ problem. Why would you even think that?”

Blaine tried hard to control his raging emotions. “In that nightmare, I watched you die. I was a useless bystander. And in real life, I couldn’t help Aiden either. And you’re showing me over and over again that I’m not even able to stand up for myself!”

Sebastian stared at Blaine in silence for a while before he shook his head again. “Okay, it seems like you have some serious issues with yourself. Which is something you warned me about, so I’m not gonna make a big deal out of it. But I don’t see you that way at all. I’m not trying to protect you because I think you’re weak. I actually think that you’re damn strong, considering the baggage you’re carrying.”

Blaine felt tears well up in his eyes again. Again. It made him feel even worse. “Sometimes, I don’t even get what you like about me except for my body that you seem to be obsessed with for some reason. You know, that guy in there, you might as well go home with him. He’s hot, so...”

“Babe,” Sebastian interrupted him and settled his hands on Blaine’s shoulders. “What the fuck has gotten into you? We’ve been over this. We talked about this weeks ago and I really thought that you got it back then. Did that stupid nightmare trigger you so badly that you’re relapsing?” 

Sebastian leaned in closer, so Blaine was forced to look into his eyes. He couldn’t say anything. Sebastian’s words hurt because he was right. 

“Stop it. The insecurity. The self-pity. You don’t need that.” Sebastian hesitated for a moment before he continued. “Okay, I made you say what you like about me, so here’s what makes you different from all the other guys. You are a creative, talented, sweet person - and when I say sweet, I don’t mean that you’re weak or girly or whatever. I mean that, sometimes, the sun shines out of your goddamn eyes and I just wanna hug you or hold your hands, as if my dick didn’t even exist. I’ve never felt like this before. In a relatively short time, you’ve changed my life completely and it has never been better. So, I’ve said it.”

Blaine’s face was still tense while Sebastian’s words were sinking in. Then, he shot forward to press his lips on Sebastian’s and kiss him with desperate urgency. 

After a while, Sebastian pulled away and gave Blaine an encouraging smile. “I think I get why that trial is a setback for you and that it makes you feel like you’re losing all the progress you’ve made. But it doesn’t change anything between us.” When Blaine finally smiled back again, he added, “Can we go back inside now? It’s really cold out here and I wasn’t really done enjoying your dance moves. David has turned you into a pro.”

Despite the emotional ups and downs of the past days and that very night, Blaine couldn’t think of anything else but of how much he loved Sebastian. The ups and downs were just part of it. With a soft smile on his lips, Blaine replied, “Okay, let’s go.” 

As they walked back inside, the hot air embraced him like a blanket. When they began to dance again, the beats were shaking the cells in Blaine’s body as if to say, _be happy_.

But deep down in his gut, something was still off and Blaine realized that it was the chance he’d just missed. Back outside, where Sebastian had once again put the broken pieces of him back together, he should have said it. Maybe Sebastian would have even said it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to confess that I wrote several notes in the past and deleted them before posting every time because I thought they were irrelevant. So if you’re reading this, I must have found a way to overcome my neurosis. Ha!
> 
> I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who’s been reading this story so far. You guys really make me happy! Thank you for sticking around, you are highly appreciated!
> 
> I also cannot tell you enough how much your comments mean to me - no matter if they’re just one word or more than that. I love them! So please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think. I will reply!
> 
> Two more things:
> 
> Since this story keeps growing with no end in sight, I added chapter titles for a better overview. I’m still not entirely happy with some of them and may change them again. I hope they don’t bother you - if they do, please let me know. I also updated the summary. It was just too cryptic.
> 
> I think it’s time to finally leave the Flash behind in this story, but if crossovers are your thing, feel free to check out my Flash/Nightbird fic! I’m currently obsessed... Thanks to BlanchLemur! ;)


	18. Thanksgiving

Over the following week, Blaine continued to have nightmares of the attack. Sometimes he was the victim, sometimes it was Aiden, but most of the time it was Sebastian. He knew that the bad dreams were just a symptom of his rekindled anxiety and there was no real threat to be afraid of, but they still stirred him up every single time. Most nights, Blaine slept next to Sebastian and every time he woke up in terror, Sebastian spooned him and the bad feelings receded. Blaine had a slight hope that the nightmares would disappear again after talking with Aiden.

Two notable things happened during the week before Thanksgiving. Firstly, Jean-Paul quit the Warblers, which almost caused Wes to suffer a heart attack. The reasons for Jean-Paul’s decision were obscure. On Monday, he didn’t show up for the Warblers’ rehearsal and when Wes confronted him, he broke down in tears and stammered something about his lack of talent. 

Wes tried his best to convince Jean-Paul to return because his dancing had already improved significantly, but there was no way to change his mind. Due to Nick’s injury layoff, there were only twelve Warblers left - the minimum number of members for Sectionals, which were only three weeks away. Wes threatened to kill anyone who would get injured or sick before that. Of course, Blaine didn’t take the threat seriously, but the scared looks on the other Warblers’ faces were slightly unsettling.

The second notable incident was that Blaine received a friend request from somebody called Eli C. Although the profile picture was just a photo of a lighthouse, Blaine had no doubt that Eli C. was the intrusive guy from the club. That he was using a photo of a phallic building as his profile picture was surely no coincidence. Eli seemed to be that kind of person.

Blaine checked the profile and learned that Eli was a student at Ohio State and that he was from Lima. The latter was terrible news. Lima was already the setting of Blaine’s nightmares and worst memories. That an idiot like this had grown up in Lima as well was just further proof that the city was a hellhole.

He ignored the friend request, but that wasn’t the end of it. A few days later, he received a message.

_ Blaine Warbler!  _

_ Remember me? I’m sure you do. I’m the guy who completely lost his manners around you. I’d like to apologize for that. I was thinking with the little head... My big head wasn’t working so well because of the lack of oxygen - you were taking my breath away! I regret that we started things off on the wrong foot. Let’s hang sometime!  _

_ Eli _

Admittedly, Blaine was flattered - he still wasn’t used to that kind of attention. But more so, he felt disgusted. He blocked Eli and showed Sebastian the message.

“What an asshole,” Sebastian remarked as he looked at Blaine’s phone. He was lying on his bed, a frowning Blaine sitting next to him. With a chuckle, Sebastian handed the phone back to Blaine and shook his head. “Unbelievable. But I shouldn’t be judging. I guess I used a similar approach to get into your pants.”

“What? No!” Blaine countered, outraged. “That was completely different. I mean, yeah, your pickup lines were stupid, too, but he knows that I have a boyfriend.  _ And  _ he is five years older than me.”

“What can I say... None of these things mattered to me either a few months ago,” Sebastian said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t think you should get worked up about this. Just ignore him.”

“You sound like you’re protecting him. I don’t get it, you were close to punching him at the club.”

“ _ That _ was because he indicated that he wanted your ass. That’s unforgivable because your ass is mine and I will punish anyone who tries to get near it.”

That silly explanation made Blaine laugh and he lay down next to Sebastian. “Oh, really? So you are the jealous type after all.”

Sebastian ran a hand along Blaine’s thigh. “No, but I may be a little possessive. Your butt is my holy grail. It has been ever since I first laid eyes on you. Nobody will steal it away from me.”

Blaine smiled seductively. “If you’re so obsessed with my butt, how come that I’m always topping?”

“Because you haven’t told me yet that you’re ready to spread your legs for me.”

Blaine bit his lower lip. He hesitated briefly before he replied, “I think I’m ready.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Alright. Gives us something to do on Thanksgiving.”

“Okay,” Blaine said with an insecure chuckle. “When you said that it’s better to be prepared for that, I didn’t think that we’d have to schedule it several days in advance...”

Sebastian pressed his index finger on Blaine’s lips. “There’s something I wanna get for you first. It’s gonna be a process. I’m not gonna rail you the first time we try this. I had a terrible first time and we’re not gonna do it like that. Slow and gentle, babe. Can we please stop talking about this now? I’m already turned on as fuck, but I have to pack my shit for going home tomorrow.”

“I love it when you talk like a sensitive poet,” Blaine purred, laughing. “But you make this whole thing sound strangely intimidating.”

Sebastian sat up on the bed and looked down at Blaine with a telling smile. “Trust me, babe. This Thanksgiving break is gonna be awesome.”

* * *

Pam arrived on Tuesday evening to pick up Blaine and Sebastian. She seemed extremely excited to get to know her son’s boyfriend.

“Sebastian! I’m so happy to finally meet you. Blaine told me so much about you,” she gushed and patted Sebastian’s shoulders.

“I’m pleased to meet you, too, mam,” Sebastian said politely, still dressed in the school uniform. Blaine had asked him to be on his best behavior.

“Call me Pam,” she said with a wide smile and opened the trunk, so the boys could put their bags inside. Blaine and Sebastian decided to sit in the back together.

When they had left Westerville behind and gotten onto the highway, Pam smiled at the boys in the rear-view mirror. “So Blaine, what’s the plan again? Tomorrow you’ll meet Aiden, right? On Thursday you’ll be home and on Friday you’ll go to Sebastian’s place for the weekend - did I get that right?”

They had agreed that Blaine would spend Thanksgiving at home, which hadn’t been his original plan, but he would still be able to spend most of the break with Sebastian. He was glad not to hear disappointment in his mother’s voice.

“If that’s okay...”

“Sure,” Pam said cheerfully. “By the way, where do you live, Sebastian? I don’t even know where I have to drop you off.”

“Buckeye Ranch,” Sebastian said and smiled into the rear-view mirror.

Pam looked puzzled for a moment, but she caught herself quickly. “So you’re Nancy Smythe’s son? Blaine never mentioned your last name. What a surprise! You know, Blaine’s father knows your mom through work.”

Sebastian just continued to smile at her in the mirror and squeezed Blaine’s hand as if to say that everything was going to be alright.

They dropped Sebastian off at the ranch an hour later. It was already dark. Blaine had gotten out of the car with him to say goodbye. He was feeling tense because he wasn’t sure how to survive the next two days with his family and Aiden. “I’ll see you on Friday then.”

“Don’t make that face,” Sebastian said and laid his hands on Blaine’s cheeks. “I’m sure seeing Aiden and your brother isn’t gonna be as bad as you think. And after that, you’ll have the best weekend ever. Go get ‘em, tiger!”

Sebastian’s encouraging smile was so comforting that Blaine couldn’t help but smile, too. “Thank you. I’ll text you.” 

The boys kissed goodbye and Blaine got into the car on the passenger side. As they were driving off, he was even feeling slightly optimistic. He looked into the side-view mirror and saw Sebastian, a shadow waving in the darkness.

* * *

At home, Blaine avoided his father and Cooper whenever possible and tried to spend most of his time with his mother outside of the house. On Wednesday, he actually managed not to get into any kind of dispute. But that was just a small victory because he was supposed to meet Aiden in the evening.

It had been hard to decide where to meet up because they both knew it would be awkward. They had finally agreed to meet at Breadstix, a popular restaurant among high school students, where they had spent a lot of time back in the Lima Central days. The food wasn’t spectacular, but it was cheap and the waiters were usually friendly and sometimes even willing to give free refills.

The restaurant wasn’t far from the Andersons’ house, just a fifteen-minute walk, but Blaine was running late. When he had finally reached the restaurant, he was out of breath and feeling intensely anxious. 

He saw Aiden sitting in a booth in the back corner of the restaurant. Aiden hadn’t changed at all. He still had bleached hair and was wearing a colorful, flashy shirt. Terrified and with a racing pulse, Blaine approached the table. When Aiden spotted him and their eyes met, Blaine’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hi,” Blaine said, forcing a smile. Normally, they would have hugged, but Aiden didn’t look like he was going to get up. Blaine didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, so he just sat down across from Aiden. He noticed a pair of crutches leaning against the wall.

“Hi.” Aiden looked at Blaine with an indefinable expression. “Thank you for coming. I actually didn’t think you’d come.”

“Why?”

“Because I was being a dick when we last met. And because I heard that what happened to us wasn’t just tough for me.”

Blaine stared at Aiden in surprise. He had braced himself for getting bombarded with accusations and hatred, but he hadn’t expected an apology. “Uhm... I don’t know wha-...”

“I’m sorry for what I said to you at the hospital. I thought everything would hurt less if I didn’t have to see you anymore, but it turned out that losing your best friend hurts pretty bad, too.” Aiden lowered his gaze and paused for a moment. Then, he looked at Blaine again, his eyes soft and apologetic. “Pam told my dad what happened to you when they talked on the phone a few weeks ago. I had no idea. I’m really so sorry. It would have been better for both of us if we’d had the chance to go through all that together.”

On the one hand, Blaine was glad that Aiden had skipped the small talk. On the other hand, he was already overwhelmed and had a funny feeling in his stomach. Aiden knew that he had gotten off the rails after the attack. That was something he wasn’t supposed to know. 

“I was an idiot. I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings for you and it was wrong to blame everything on you. I shouldn’t even have told you. I was selfish and desperate,” Aiden said with a sad smile. “It’s almost a good thing I had to go to therapy after the attack because it also helped me to get over that crush. You know, Pam told my dad that you have a boyfriend now and I’m really happy for you.”

Whatever was happening, it was happening too fast and it was too much. Blaine was feeling dizzy. He had no idea how much Pam had told Aiden’s father. It was definitely more than he would have wanted her to say.

“I’m sorry for the monologue, I just wanted to get all this off my chest. How are you, man?” Aiden’s smile was still a little sad, but it was sincere.

“I’m... Uhm... I’m okay,” Blaine stammered. Seeing Aiden was making him just as emotional as he had expected and he wished he had insisted on meeting somewhere less public.

“You live at Dalton Academy now, right? What’s it like?”

“Yeah. It’s... okay. They have a show choir called the Dalton Warblers and they chose me to be the lead singer for the next competition. I don’t really know how that happened,” Blaine said with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Wow. I always thought you had a great voice, so that doesn’t surprise me. Did you meet your boyfriend at Dalton?”

Blaine felt a shiver run down his spine. He hadn’t planned on talking about Sebastian, at least not that early in the conversation. “Uhm, yeah. And you... kinda know him.”

“Really?” Aiden’s eyes went wide. “I only know one... Wait. Sebastian Smythe is your boyfriend?”

Blaine simply nodded, afraid of Aiden’s reaction. Aiden was just staring at him with a blank face, obviously speechless. 

At that moment, a waitress approached and brought them their drinks.

“Oh, you already ordered,” Blaine said, surprised. “And you knew what...”

“Peanut butter milkshake for Blaine Anderson, as always. You know, not that long ago, we used to come here together almost every weekend,” Aiden said with a hint of a smile that immediately vanished again. “So, Sebastian. That’s... wild.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just hadn’t expected that.” Aiden had a thoughtful look on his face as he played with the straw in his drink. “Truth be told, picturing you with some rando was easier than picturing you with someone I know.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine said in a very low voice. Although he had thought about it a lot beforehand, he had no idea how to handle the situation.

Suddenly, Aiden’s smile returned. “What are you doing? Don’t apologize! Sebastian is a great guy and you deserve a great guy. I’m happy for you.” He sounded as if he was mainly trying to convince himself. “Anyways, I’m glad to hear that you’re back on your feet. I am, too. Well...” He pointed at his crutches. “I still have some trouble walking, but apart from that, I’m okay, too. I go to McKinley now. It’s not much different from Lima Central, except that even the bullies there feel sorry for me and leave me alone,” Aiden said with a bitter chuckle.

Blaine froze. Something like survivor’s guilt was creeping up inside of him. Although he had completely lost control of himself after the attack, he had ended up at a top-notch school, as the lead singer of the Warblers, and with a hot boyfriend. He had no right to feel bad. He had no right to have silly nightmares. Compared to Aiden, he was golden. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” Blaine said, looking at the crutches. “I didn’t know that you were still having trouble with that.”

“I’ve been out of luck forever. I’m used to it by now. But this really sucks and it’s the main reason why we’re suing those guys. The doctors still aren’t sure if I’ll ever fully recover.”

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know...”

“I didn’t want you to know. Just like you probably didn’t want me to know about your nightmares. Or that you turned to stealing, slashing tires and getting high to cope with everything. What happened to us changed us both and I’m sure that I even made everything even worse for you. That’s why  _ I’m _ here to apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. And don’t you dare pity me.”

“I don’t pity you,” Blaine said helplessly.

“What I don’t get though,” Aiden continued, “how come your parents sent you to Dalton but not to therapy? Didn’t you want to go? It helped me a lot.”

Blaine felt the terrible tingling in his nose again, the one he always got when he was about to tear up. This wasn’t happening. “My dad sent me to a special therapist, who... You know. He was supposed to change my... orientation. I never went back after the first time.”

At first, Aiden looked shocked, then angry. He shook his head in frustration. “Sorry, but that sounds just like your dad. He’s an uptight asshole.”

“I know, you used to tell me that...”

“I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t have help through all of this. I hope that Sebastian makes up for some of it now. He helped me a lot, you know. He’s good with words, isn’t he?” A faint smile appeared on Aiden’s face.

“Yeah... he is. If you ignore all the cussing,” Blaine replied with a chuckle. He was slowly regaining control of himself.

They smiled at each other in silence for a moment. But then, Aiden looked serious again. “Knowing everything that I know now, I feel incredibly bad for asking you to testify. I mean, it’s not easy for me either, but as I said, I’m aware that I made everything worse for you and that I’m the villain here.”

Blaine shook his head. “You’re not the villain. Those idiots are. I want them to be brought to justice, too. They weren’t even kicked out of school, that’s insane. I want to help you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Aiden’s lips curled up into a slight smile again. “You know, I really missed you. I often wish we could be friends again.”

“I missed you, too!” Blaine said quickly, suddenly hopeful. “We  _ can _ be friends again. I’m not mad at you at all and if you aren’t mad at me...”

“Blaine. I was never mad at you. The whole problem was that I was in love with you. And as I said, I thought the therapy had helped me to get over that, but talking to you now is still... weird. I’m not sure if it will get better or worse if we stay in touch. But I’d like to try if that’s okay with you.”

Smiling broadly, Blaine nodded and felt as if an incredible weight was lifted off his shoulders. He was willing to testify at a hundred trials if that meant he could have Aiden back in his life.

“Do you wanna order something to eat as well? I could have ordered the lasagna for you, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be hungry,” Aiden said, grinning. He was clearly more relaxed now, just like Blaine.

“I’m starving,” Blaine replied with a chuckle.

They ordered lasagna and fries and, after a while, it felt as if they had never been apart.

“How’s your Nightbird comic coming along? Can I buy a copy of it soon?”

Blaine laughed. “I haven’t really been working on that. But you may be able to find some of the characters on walls around Westerville.”

“What? Are you a graffiti artist now? Neat! Lima could use some more color, too,” Aiden said with a smile that appeared to be just as carefree as it used to be.

For Blaine, Lima already felt much more colorful, now that he had made peace with Aiden. 

Later that night, Blaine texted Sebastian.

B:  _ Mission #1 accomplished! All’s well :) _

S:  _ Told ya so, baby! Proud of ya! =) _

* * *

Mission #2 was Thanksgiving dinner the next day. Blaine helped Pam with the cooking and set the table, mentally preparing himself for spending at least two hours in the same room with his father and brother. So far, he had been able to stay out of their way by showing up late for breakfast and lunch.

When they were all sitting at the table, Cooper did most of the talking, telling them about his latest acting jobs and about how dumb and incapable most of his colleagues were.

“Have I already mentioned that I’m giving acting lessons now? There’s so much demand for that in L.A. It’s like mining gold.” Cooper was talking in his so-called businessy voice. He rarely talked in his normal voice anymore. Everything about him had become so cringeworthy. Blaine was sure that Cooper’s tan was just as fake as his way of speaking and his current hair color, which he had called  _ glazed walnut _ . Blaine had been craving donuts ever since.

Listening to Cooper’s smug talk was more than annoying. It was downright sickening and at some point Blaine couldn’t take it any longer. “What exactly are you even teaching? It’s not like you have anything to show for except some ridiculous commercials,” he snapped.

Cooper raised his eyebrows in mock outrage and his facial expression looked so exaggerated that Blaine suspected his brother had forgotten how to show natural emotions. “Look at you, squirt. You can still talk after all. You know, you haven’t talked to me ever since you got here, so I was under the impression that the only thing coming out of your mouth would be warbling. Speaking of, at least I have the commercials to show for while all the Warbler fame you’ve gotten so far is just hot air because you haven’t even competed yet.”

Blaine gave his brother a nasty look. Cooper’s arrogant grin made him even angrier. 

“Boys!” Pam chimed in, trying hard to stay good-humored. “Please. It’s Thanksgiving. Can you please be nice to each other today? I’m thankful for both of you and I think you’re both incredibly talented. I’m very proud of your achievements.” 

“Which achievements?” Cooper asked with a cackling laugh. “This year, Blaine has literally achieved nothing but getting into trouble. And he’s not even good at being a  _ bad boy _ . He’s just a pathetic loser, who...”

“Enough!” Richard had slammed his fist on the table. “Stop arguing now. You mother deserves a peaceful Thanksgiving dinner and that’s what we’re going to have.”

“Okay, sorry,” Cooper mumbled, rolling his eyes. 

They ate in silence for a minute or two before Richard - of all people - made an attempt at starting another conversation. “So Blaine, your mother told me you have a boyfriend now. Tell us about him.”

Blaine dropped the fork that he had just lifted to his mouth and gave Pam an annoyed look. “Did you...?”

Pam shook her head, an innocent smile on her face. “I haven’t told your dad who he is. I thought it would be nice if you did that.”

“What’s so special about him?” Richard asked, chewing a potato.

Talking about Sebastian with his dad was the last thing Blaine wanted to do, but, unfortunately, there was no way around that now. With a sigh, he said, “His name is Sebastian Smythe.”

When Richard heard the name, he gawked at Blaine in surprise. Everyone waited for him to say something, but it took him a moment to process the news. “Nancy’s son?”

Blaine nodded and gave Richard a spiteful glare. “Quite the plot twist, isn’t it? Suddenly, having a gay son isn’t even so bad anymore. As long as he’s sleeping with the son of a golden goose...”

“Blaine!” Pam was clearly upset now. “Stop being so provocative! It’s like you want this dinner to end in a giant argument.”

“You made me come here! You brought up Sebastian although it’s none of dad’s business! Did you think he would suddenly like me because I have a rich boyfriend?” Blaine’s rage was so strong that he didn’t even care if he was hurting his mother’s feelings. Ever since they’d sat down at the table, he’d been feeling as if he had a target on his forehead. Expecting to be attacked by his father or brother anytime, he had decided to defend himself before they could hurt him.

Surprisingly, Richard remained calm. “Son, I...”

“Don’t  _ son _ me!” Blaine snarled.

“Blaine! You’re being bratty!” Pam had yelled at him in a tone that made him freeze. Blaine hadn’t hurt her. He had made her mad, which was the scariest thing that could have happened. Pam’s rage was a million times worse and more frightening than his father’s because he respected her. “You know that I’m on your side, but this time  _ you _ are the one at fault. Can we all please talk like adults now?”

Blaine looked down at his plate. He knew she was right, but he had to fight his dad. He had to because his dad hated him.

“Tell us about Sebastian,” Richard said in a neutral tone. 

It was making Blaine even more furious to see that even Richard had his temper under control, while he seemed to be trapped in some vicious cycle of hatred. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something nice. The next few days with Sebastian. They would be nice.

“He’s a Warbler, too. A good one. He used to be one of the lead singers,” Blaine said, begrudgingly, and realized that he couldn’t tell so much more about Sebastian because most things they did together were illegal or at least against Dalton rules. “He’s also pretty smart. He’s already taking a course at the university.”

Now that Blaine was pulling himself together, Pam seemed to be satisfied. She had calmed down and smiled at him. “What are your plans for the weekend?”

“Uhm... I don’t know, he wants to surprise me. I think he wants to show me how to ride a horse.”

“I wish I could be a fly on the stable wall when that happens,” Cooper said with a grin.

Blaine’s head shot around to Cooper. He was ready to snap back at him, but there was actually no reason to do that. Even Blaine thought he was going to make a fool of himself at the ranch. He shrugged and gave Cooper a crooked smile.

The rest of the dinner wasn’t all that bad. Nobody attacked Blaine and they even laughed together about some of Cooper’s bad jokes. But Blaine noticed the weird looks Richard gave him every now and then. They were different now, no longer just full of disdain but prying, as if Blaine was suddenly of value.

No matter how composed Richard was pretending to be, Blaine could see through the facade. He knew that his father, the ruthless schemer, was already thinking about how he could profit from Blaine’s relationship with a Smythe. What Richard didn’t know was that Blaine and Sebastian liked scheming, too.


	19. Smythe Empire Pt. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t post last weekend because I was busy creating an 8,000+ words long monster. I had to divide it into two chapters and I’m serving you the first one today. It turned out way too fluffy for my taste, but Blaine deserves a break before I’ll torture him again. The second part will be rather smutty.
> 
> Before (finally!) returning to the Warblers and Sectionals, I felt like going on an excursion and exploring Sebastian’s world for a while. When I started writing this story, I didn’t ship Seblaine at all. I set out to write about Blaine and his backstory and I’ve ended up adoring Sebastian. Now I will never get over how little screen time he got!

On Friday, Sebastian picked Blaine up after breakfast. Blaine was glad to finally leave his parents’ house again, even though no major disaster had occurred. After giving Pam a kiss and saying goodbye to Richard and Cooper, he stormed out of the front door and was surprised to see a night blue metallic Porsche on the street.

“Nice ride,” Blaine commented as he hopped on the passenger seat. He leaned in for a quick kiss. When their lips touched, he realized how glad he was to be with Sebastian again. It was like coming home. The past two days had felt like weeks.

“It’s the best thing about my dad being home. He usually takes the Porsche up to Cleveland and then the poor thing is left parked there all week because his apartment is right next to his office. Such a waste.”

Blaine admired the scarlet leather-clad interior of the car. “Yeah, that sounds like a waste. But wait, your dad has an apartment in Cleveland? Your parents aren’t separated, are they? You never mentioned that.”

Sebastian laughed. “Separated? No. But they’ve never really lived together. My family is weird. Do you mind if we take a little detour? Driving this beauty is fun.”

Blaine agreed to the detour and they were soon on the interstate, where Sebastian accelerated to a speed far above the limit. It felt a little bit like flying.

After Blaine had told Sebastian about his meetup with Aiden, he thought about what Sebastian had said about his parents earlier. “What did you mean when you said that your parents have never lived together?” he asked curiously. “I mean, only if you wanna talk about it.”

Sebastian shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. My dad is from Cleveland. In the early nineties, he opened a law firm there. When he got married to my mom, he decided to keep his job, even though that meant that he would only be home on weekends. He wasn’t around much when I grew up. But I think that’s actually the reason why we get along so well. He was only there for the fun stuff.”

“Wow, that’s quite unusual.”

“Is it? I don’t know. It’s working for us. Especially for him, I guess. He’s a state’s attorney now and quite a big fish in Cleveland. In Lima, he’s just Nancy Smythe’s husband. By keeping his old job, he avoided having to work for my mom. She made him take her old-money name, which already caused him to suffer from an inferiority complex. His last name is Tanner-Smythe, by the way.”

“So your mom takes care of the ranch, the hotel and the golf courses on her own?”

“Yes, she’s the one who inherited the estate. She has managers for all these businesses, but, yeah, she’s super busy. That’s why I was raised by wolves... and by our housekeeper. I liked that, but I often feel bad for Sally. I wish she had a mom like yours.”

Blaine chuckled. “My mom isn’t perfect either. Yesterday, she really pissed me off and then she accused me of being bratty. I mean, come on...”

“Seriously?” Sebastian laughed and gave Blaine a provocative look. “I wish I’d been there. That sounds pretty hot. Bratty Blaine... I really want a taste of that.”

“You just have to put me in a room with my dad.”

“How did your Thanksgiving dinner go, by the way? Did you tell him about me?”

“I didn’t want to, but my mom made me. I swear, he had dollar signs in his eyes when he heard your name,” Blaine said with a disgusted expression on his face.

“Awesome! I’m telling you, once my mom knows you, she will eat out of your hand. And then old Rick can say goodbye to his Smythe dollars.”

Blaine nodded in agreement and let his eyes wander over the vast fields and small townships that were flying by. Sebastian turned the music up and they both sang along to the weird mix of punk rock and hip hop songs on Sebastian’s playlist. Blaine wished the drive would never end, but when they had almost reached Dayton, Sebastian decided that they should head back to Lima.

At Buckeye Ranch, Sebastian parked the car right in front of the Smythe residence, a large, modern country house built of limestone and wood.

“My parents aren’t home yet, but Sally is dying to meet you,” Sebastian said as they entered the foyer.

He had barely finished the sentence when a girl came running down the wooden stairs to the right, a black Labrador trailing behind her. She was wearing her blond hair in two thick braids, just as she had during most of the video calls with Sebastian that Blaine had accidentally interrupted. She stopped short in front of the boys. “Hello Blaine,” she said, beaming at him.

“Hi Sally,” Blaine replied, smiling. She was almost as tall as him.

“You look just like in the video chat, even your funny eyebrows. I really like them,” Sally said, her eyes wide with fascination.

“Funny eyebrows...?” Blaine gave Sebastian a confused look, but Sebastian just shook his head and laughed it off.

The dog was sniffing Blaine’s legs, wagging its tail. Blaine assumed it was friendly and reached out his hand. The dog sniffed briefly and started to lick his fingers. The tickling made Blaine chuckle. He had always wanted a dog, but his parents had never allowed it. He knelt down to pet the dog some more.

Sally gave Sebastian a reproachful look. “I’ve been waiting for you all morning. Why did it take you so long to get here?” She turned to Blaine and smiled again. “I want to show you our horses. We already picked one for you. His name is Pepper.”

Blaine suddenly felt a little queasy. He didn’t like the sound of that. Dogs were fun, but horses were huge and pretty scary. “That sounds... awesome. What’s this guy’s name?” he asked, still petting the dog.

“This is Dexter,” Sally replied, grinning. “He likes you.”

“Listen, munchkin. Blaine can ride Pepper tomorrow. How about you get Nicky ready and ride him a bit? I’ll take him in an hour or so,” Sebastian said. 

Sally agreed and raced outside, taking Dexter with her. Blaine followed Sebastian around the house for a short tour. The interior was rustic but elegant, with a lot of wood and stone, exposed beams and an open fireplace in the living room. 

Although the furnishings were meticulously designed as if they’d come straight from a country home magazine, the house looked as if people were actually living in it - unlike the Andersons’ home, where everything was a little too perfect due to Pam’s passion for interior design. There were photos of Sebastian and Sally in almost every room. The living room, the kitchen and the dining room looked just as messy as most families’ homes right after Thanksgiving. To Blaine’s surprise, the bleakest, most impersonal room he got to see was Sebastian’s room upstairs. 

“Welcome to my humble abode. I know it’s kinda boring, but I don’t care about it much since I only spend about ten days per year here,” Sebastian said and opened the window to let in some fresh air.

Except for the furniture and a few electronic devices, such as a TV, several gaming consoles, a desktop computer and a large stereo, there weren’t many things in the room. The few personal items included a number of trophies on top of a dresser and a beautiful oil painting of the Eiffel Tower on the wall.

“That’s a nice painting,” Blaine remarked and sat down on Sebastian’s bed. Have you been to Paris?”

“I lived there for a year when I was fifteen. Student exchange program. I did everything there but study, that’s why I had to repeat the year.”

Blaine glared at Sebastian in surprise. “You... what? Wow, that’s crazy! Why did you never mention that?”

“You never asked. Damn, we should both be done with school next summer. Instead, we’re gonna be stuck at Dalton for another year.”

Although Sebastian was playing it down, Blaine was impressed by the news. “You have to tell me about Paris. I’ve never been to Europe.”

Sebastian sighed, obviously annoyed by the topic. “Babe, I have a better idea. Next summer, we’ll be eighteen. Let’s just travel to Europe together and make some new memories. Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague... There’s a lot to see.”

“That would be amazing!” Blaine could already picture it. They would get to see the most interesting and beautiful places. Just the two of them. The idea excited him so much that he completely forgot to ask Sebastian why he didn’t want to talk about his time in Paris.

“But before we explore Europe, I’ll show you our wonderful homeland from a whole new perspective. Let’s have a bite and then I’ll show you around outside. Did you bring anything comfortable to wear? I really dig how your tight pants accentuate the hottest parts of your body, but they’re not ideal for what we’re about to do.”

“Uhm... do you mean that I have to ride a horse?” Blaine asked with some hesitation. “Do I really have to? We could go for a walk with Dexter instead.”

Sebastian seemed to be amused by Blaine’s doubtful look. “For the millionth time, just trust me.”

After Blaine had changed into a pair of fairly comfortable jeans and Sebastian had put on his riding pants and boots, they gulped down a couple of sandwiches in the kitchen and walked over to the equestrian facilities. 

Buckeye Ranch wasn’t a typical ranch, at least not anymore. Over the years, the old farm buildings had been replaced by modern limestone buildings, matching the style of the Smythe residence. The stables, the indoor riding arena and most of the other buildings were state-of-the-art facilities that had attracted competitive athletes from various equestrian disciplines. There was a huge outdoor arena with jumps and a smaller one lined with white boards for dressage training.

Sebastian explained that several years ago, the ranch had almost been renamed Smythe Equestrian Center to better reflect their competitive approach. But then his mother had decided that, in Lima, tradition was a better selling point than innovation and they kept the old name.

Sally was riding a beautiful horse in the larger outdoor arena. It was completely black, except for the small white star on its forehead. Sebastian and Blaine stopped at the fence and watched her.

“Is that Sally’s horse?” Blaine asked.

“Kind of. This is Onyx. She calls him Nicky. He’s actually mine, but Sally takes care of him. He definitely doesn’t consider me his owner anymore. It’s kinda sad, but I’m over it.”

Sebastian climbed over the fence, walked into the arena and called Sally. She came to a halt in front of him and jumped off Onyx. Sebastian adjusted the stirrup straps and got on the horse with ease.

Blaine watched in awe as Sebastian was riding Onyx. He let the horse break into a fast gallop and took a few jumps. It seemed incredible that such a large animal did all that on command. Sebastian looked amazing on the black horse. He made everything look so easy and fun.

Half an hour later, Sebastian had enough and directed the horse towards Blaine. “Your turn, babe,” he said, grinning.

Blaine gave the gasping, sweaty animal a suspicious look. “He looks... wild. I don’t know if this is a good idea. You know that Wes will kill us both if I fall off a horse and break my legs... or my neck.”

Sebastian laughed. “You shouldn’t be thinking of Wes during our school break. Come on, Onyx is already tired and I’ll be there to catch you. We’ll go very slow.”

Blaine wasn’t entirely convinced, but he didn’t want to look like a coward. He forced himself to enter the arena and walk towards the horse. Sebastian jumped off it and showed Blaine how to hold on to the saddle. He grabbed Blaine’s left knee and lower leg and helped him up. With some effort, Blaine lifted his right leg over the horse’s back and somehow ended up in the saddle. The leather felt warm and comfortable, but when Onyx took a step forward, a rush of panic swept through him.

“Grab this,” Sebastian said, pointing at a strap at the front of the saddle. “You can hold on to this. Ready?”

Blaine nodded begrudgingly. Sebastian took the reins and started to walk. To Blaine’s relief, Onyx followed Sebastian obediently. Feeling the huge animal moving underneath him was weird at first, but the rocking motion even felt nice after a while. It wasn’t that much different from sitting on that pony many years ago. 

“What you did looked pretty good,” Blaine said. “How long did it take you to learn that?”

“Many years,” Sebastian responded with a chuckle. “Luckily, it’s a skill you don’t unlearn. But every time you start again after a break, the sore muscles almost kill you. I hate that.”

Blaine bravely removed one hand from the strap and reached out to touch Onyx’s mane and neck. The fur on his neck was smooth and wet with sweat. “Did you win the trophies in your room with Onyx?”

“Yeah, I did some show jumping back in the days. Sally does it now.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Competing? No, not really. I have new hobbies. Riding you, for example.” Sebastian turned to look at Blaine, a smirk on his face.

Blaine grinned and shook his head. It was weird to see Sebastian in this environment that was so different from Dalton, wearing riding attire and handling horses. But he was still the same vulgar loudmouth.

After about fifteen minutes, Sebastian stopped Onyx and helped Blaine get off him. Thankful for the horse’s good behavior, Blaine petted its neck again. He had survived. 

Sally, who had been watching them, took Onyx back to the stable, while the boys went back to the house. A silver SUV was parked next to the Porsche. 

“My parents are home now,” Sebastian commented and led the way inside.

There were voices in the kitchen and Blaine realized that his heart was pounding. Meeting his boyfriend’s parents was even scarier than riding horses. Sebastian interrupted his parents’ conversation to introduce Blaine. 

Nancy Smythe gave Blaine a delighted smile and walked up to him to shake his hand. “It’s so great to finally meet you, Blaine. I’m Nance. This is Miles,” she said, nodding at her husband.

Blaine was surprised to see how young they looked. Nancy was a pretty woman with dyed blond hair. Miles, tall and lean, had a handsome, clean-shaven face that looked a lot like his son’s.

“Welcome to Buckeye Ranch,” Miles Tanner-Smythe said and shook Blaine’s hand as well. “It’s good to have you here. Has Sebastian already given you a tour?”

“Yes, the ranch is beautiful,” Blaine replied with a polite smile. 

“It would be so much better without the horses though. You know, I don’t particularly like them,” Miles said with a cheeky grin. “Have you also been to the golf courses?”

“Not yet.”

“But that’s the best part. I could use a new golf buddy. Sebastian refuses to play against me because he’s a sore loser, so if you enjoy swinging the sticks, let me know.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Do you wanna scare Blaine off for good, dad? For the record, I don’t play against you because I don’t wanna die of boredom.”

There was still plenty of time before dinner and Sebastian showed Blaine the golf carts that were parked in the garage next to the house. They each took one and raced across the estate towards the golf courses. It was fun until Blaine almost drove his cart into a small pond in the middle of one of the courses. After that, he didn’t dare go as fast anymore and lost every race to Sebastian.

Dinner was mainly left-overs from Thanksgiving, but they were delicious and even richer than what had been on Pam’s menu. Blaine liked Miles and Nancy instantly. The way they interacted with their children and with him was so different from what he was used to from his own parents. There was no noticeable hierarchy in their conversation. Instead, there was a lot of joking and laughter. 

Blaine felt much more comfortable and accepted at the Smythe’s dinner table than at the Anderson’s. The only time he felt uncomfortable was when Nancy brought up Richard.

“Blaine, how’s your dad?” she asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.” 

Sebastian had mentioned that Nancy didn’t like Richard, but Blaine wasn’t sure how well she knew him. “I think he’s fine. Always working on the campaign. Which reminds me, I’m supposed to give you his regards.”

“Very nice of him, but that won’t be enough to get another check,” Sebastian said with a snarky chuckle. “Isn’t that right, mom? Now that you know Blaine, it can’t be so hard to make a decision about that.”

“I wasn’t going to talk business over family dinner, Seb,” Nancy said with a sigh and her eyes rested on Blaine. “Sebastian told us a bit about your relationship with Rick. Although I was never really a big fan of your dad, I was shocked to hear about such intolerance. Unfortunately, we still need an authorization for the expansion of the golf courses and I’m sure your dad could help us with that, but I’m starting to reconsider my priorities. I really wonder what’s wrong with him. It’s outrageous that he didn’t even change his attitude after what happened to you.”

Blaine froze. His father and the attack were the two topics he hated most and, apparently, Sebastian had told his parents more about those than Blaine had expected. But after having welcomed him so warmly, Miles and Nancy had already gained his trust. He felt like he could talk openly with them.

“My dad has strong principles and I don’t fit in with them. He thinks I’m a bad seed,” Blaine said with a bitter smile.

Sebastian snorted with laughter. “Aren’t we all?”

“Oh honey, that’s so wrong,” Nancy said to Blaine in a gentle tone. “You’re a wonderful young man. I’m glad you’re part of our family now.”

Blaine felt a pleasant warmth well up inside him, especially in his cheeks. Nancy reminded him of his own mother. She seemed kind and supportive and so did Miles. 

Suddenly, Dexter appeared from under the table and rested his head on Blaine’s thigh, watching him eat. Smiling, Blaine petted Dexter’s head. He wished he could have dinner with the Smythes every day. An adorable little sister, great parents, a cute dog. Sebastian seemed to have it all.

“Being a part of the Smythe family isn’t so bad if you can get used to the horse smell,” Miles said with a smirk that looked just like Sebastian’s. “Just remember that you’ll have to take the family name if you boys ever get married. Smythe-Anderson sounds better than Anderson-Smythe if you ask me.”

“Dad! Shut it,” Sebastian hissed. While Blaine thought Miles’s remark was funny, Sebastian didn’t seem to be so amused. 

Blaine’s gaze fell on Sally, whose eyes were opened wide.

“Can boys get married?” she asked, obviously fascinated.

“They sure can,” Nancy replied. “Well, they can when they’re not boys anymore.”

Sally looked at Sebastian with a pleading expression on her face. “Will I be invited to your wedding?”

Sebastian gave his dad a pissed look and turned to Sally. “I’m not getting married anytime soon. If that ever happens, I’ll let you know, but I don’t think I’ll fall victim to such an outdated practice. Gosh, it’s a good thing that I know no shame. You guys are the worst. I’m sorry for bringing you here, B.”

Blaine just smiled. He was glad that Sebastian had invited him. This dinner felt so much more like Thanksgiving than the one he’d had the day before. He was thankful for the opportunity of getting to know the Smythes, a weird but open-hearted family, and he was thankful for Sebastian - even though his comment about marriage had stung a little. Blaine was secretly dreaming of getting married someday. Hearing that Sebastian was generally opposed to the idea was surprisingly disappointing, but it didn’t matter. They were only seventeen.

After dinner, they went back up to Sebastian’s room, where Sebastian started to pack his bag.

“What are you packing for?” Blaine asked. “Aren’t we staying here?”

“Nope,” Sebastian replied. “There’s a better place.”

Five minutes later, Blaine followed Sebastian out of the house straight to one of the golf carts that they had parked next to the cars. They threw their bags on the back of one of the carts and hopped on the seats. It was already dark and Sebastian switched on the lights before he started the motor.

They passed the stables and the indoor riding arena and after a few minutes, they reached another large, fancy-looking two-story limestone building on the other side of the estate. Blaine couldn’t see much in the dark, but he knew that they were at the golf courses again.

Sebastian got off the golf cart and took the bags. “Welcome to the Buckeye Hotel and Golf Resort. You’re here at a good time. We almost have the whole hotel to ourselves because the rich folks are all home for some family time.”

Blaine followed Sebastian inside. The hotel’s interior was in line with the country theme in a remarkably elegant way. There were exposed beams and oak-wood paneling. Over the reception area, there was a huge chandelier and the lobby was furnished with leather couches. Numerous oil paintings with horses were hanging on the walls. The lobby reminded Blaine of Dalton.

Sebastian went straight to the reception, where a grey-haired man was sitting behind the counter. “Good evening, Walter. How’s it going?”

The man looked up from the computer screen, clearly surprised to see guests at this hour. “Oh, good evening, Sebastian. It’s been a quiet day. We only have eight guests right now. Well, now we have ten. This is your boyfriend, I suppose?”

Blaine stepped up to the counter and held out his hand. “Blaine Anderson, sir. Pleased to meet you.”

The man got up from his chair, shook Blaine’s hand and smiled. “Welcome, Mr. Anderson. My name is Walter Pickle. It’s very nice to meet you. Well, Sebastian, we prepared the suite for you as requested. Where’s the key... Oh, here you go. Let me know if you need anything.”

Sebastian took the key and grinned at Walter. “Is the pool closed for maintenance tonight?”

“Yes, it is. Just as we discussed. Here’s the key. It would be nice if you could return it before 7 a.m.”

“Will do. Thank you, have a good night.”

Blaine followed Sebastian up the stairs and down a long hallway. He wasn’t sure if he had understood everything correctly. “A suite? A pool? Is this for real?”

Sebastian grinned. “I told you I’d make sure that you’ll have an amazing weekend. I wanted this to be a surprise.”

He opened the door at the end of the hallway and switched the lights on. Blaine stepped into the large room and let his eyes wander over an inviting sitting area with two leather couches, a king-size bed and a giant flat screen TV. The wall opposite of the door was almost entirely made up of windows.

“During the day, you have a nice view over the courses and the pond you almost drove into today. There’s a balcony, too. But we should close these now,” Sebastian said, shutting the long curtains.

Blaine was still standing in the middle of the room, taking everything in. “This is amazing,” he said with a wide smile on his face. 

Sebastian stepped up to him and laid his hands on Blaine’s waist. “I’m glad you like it. Do you wanna go to the pool soon? We’ll have it all to ourselves tonight.”

“I would love to, but I didn’t bring my swim trunks.”

“No worries, I got you covered.” Sebastian walked over to his bag, took a red speedo out of it and threw it at Blaine.

Blaine caught the swimsuit and inspected it with a doubtful look. “Are you serious? I’m used to something wider...”

“Doesn’t matter, I wanna see you wearing this. C’mon, I’m the only one who’s gonna see you. Initially, I wanted to suggest we go naked, but there are security cameras at the pool and I don’t know how to turn them off. Besides, you owe me because I wore that Flash suit for you on Halloween.”

Begrudgingly, Blaine agreed. After they’d unpacked a few things from their bags, they got changed and headed towards the pool. It was located on the floor level on the other end of the long building, right next to a small, but well-equipped gym. Sebastian ignored the _Closed for maintenance_ sign and unlocked the door to the locker rooms. 

They took a quick shower and entered the pool area together. Instead of windows, there were murals of Caribbean beaches with palm trees, so they had complete privacy.

Sebastian was wearing blue swim trunks that had to be a lot more comfortable than Blaine’s speedo, but the look on Sebastian’s face was worth the trouble.

“Babe, this is easily my favorite outfit of yours,” Sebastian said with an intrigued smile.

“This is not an outfit and it’s also not mine,” Blaine countered. “Whose speedo is this, by the way? I hope it’s not your dad’s.”

“No, it’s yours. I bought it for you. I also bought you something else, but that’s also a surprise.”

“Why do you buy me stuff?”

“I just bought you stuff that I benefit from.” Grinning, Sebastian laid his arms around Blaine’s neck. They were standing at the edge of the pool

Blaine let out a short laugh. “Okay, how romantic. Thanks though.”

“You’re welcome,” Sebastian said with a smirk and before Blaine could react, Sebastian pushed him into the pool and jumped into the water right behind him.

The water was colder and the pool deeper than expected. When Blaine resurfaced, he dashed at Sebastian as fast as the water allowed, but Sebastian was already rushing away from him.

They chased each other around the pool for a few minutes before Blaine caught Sebastian and pushed him under the water. Splashing water everywhere, Sebastian managed to free himself and grabbed Blaine’s wrists. Their playful fight left them both gasping for air and Blaine soon gave up because Sebastian was at a clear advantage, being able to stand in the pool.

“Okay, you won,” Blaine admitted, laughing, and Sebastian let go of his wrists. 

Blaine laid his arms around Sebastian’s neck, wrapped his legs around Sebastian’s hips and smiled at him. The water was up to their shoulders. It didn’t even feel cold anymore. 

The way Sebastian was smiling back at him made Blaine feel giddy with happiness. Sebastian looked so handsome with his messy, wet hair. Drops of water were trapped in his eyelashes and dripping off the tip of his beautiful nose.

Their mouths met in a long and deep kiss. Sebastian teased Blaine with heated strokes of his tongue and pulled him closer with his arms. Sebastian’s right hand wandered down Blaine’s spine and slipped inside the speedo. 

Blaine was getting hard, but he remembered that there were security cameras somewhere and he tried to ignore his arousal. He pulled away from Sebastian’s lips, but kept his arms and legs wrapped around him. They looked at each other, smiling.

Sebastian started to slowly rotate on the spot, spinning Blaine around in the water. Blaine buried his face in Sebastian’s neck and closed his eyes, enjoying the ride and the feeling of Sebastian’s wet skin on his. “This is amazing. I love it,” Blaine said in a low voice.

Suddenly, Sebastian stopped spinning. When Blaine opened his eyes and looked at him, he saw that Sebastian’s lips were parted as if he wanted to say something. There was a flicker of insecurity in Sebastian’s eyes and he sealed his lips again, but only for a few seconds. “I love _you_.”

Blaine’s heart skipped a beat. A wonderful, warm feeling was spreading inside him. He gazed at Sebastian, unable to say anything for a moment. The day had been full of surprises, but hearing these words out of Sebastian’s mouth was the most unexpected surprise of all. And it was clearly the best. 

He tightened his embrace around Sebastian and looked him in the eyes. “I love you, too,” Blaine said, smiling and overwhelmed with joy. Lately, these words had been on the tip of his tongue so many times, but he hadn’t been able to say them, out of fear that Sebastian would be put off by the weight they carried. When Sebastian leaned in to kiss him again, Blaine didn’t even remember what he’d been afraid of.


	20. Smythe Empire Pt. II

When Blaine woke up the next morning, he felt on top of the world. He had slept perfectly well in the comfortable king-size bed and he vaguely remembered dreaming of wild horses. 

Blaine turned his body towards Sebastian, who was still sleeping soundly. Smiling, Blaine studied his features as he had done many times before. He loved Sebastian’s narrow lips, especially the lower one. It had such a beautiful shape, just like his flawless nose and his long eyebrows. Blaine felt the butterflies in his stomach again. He’d been feeling them so often in the past months and they kept getting stronger. Sebastian was perfect.

Somewhere inside Blaine’s head, there was a low voice of reason trying to tell him that it wasn’t possible. That nobody was perfect. That shit would always happen. But that voice was quickly drowned out by the happy hormones in his brain. He thought of the words that had been said the night before and were now etched into his mind. I love you. _And you love me._

Sebastian had become the most important person in his life. He was everything to Blaine. And Blaine wanted to know everything about him. He wanted to know what his life was like before they’d met. At the ranch. In Paris. Everything.

After a while, Sebastian slowly opened his eyes. He smiled when he realized that Blaine was watching him. It was perfect. Sebastian was perfect.

They had breakfast at the hotel restaurant because Sebastian claimed he needed a break from his family after having been home for three days. He said he just wasn’t used to that much family time anymore. Blaine didn’t really understand him because he liked the Smythes, but he didn’t complain. Being alone with Sebastian was even better.

“Are you ready for another ride?” Sebastian asked on the way back to the suite.

“Another ride? In the Porsche?” Blaine asked, although he already knew the answer.

“No, babe. I’m talking about real horsepower.” 

“Ugh... Okay. Do I get to meet Pepper now?”

“Yep,” Sebastian replied and gave Blaine a fleeting kiss.

When they entered the stable an hour later, Blaine noticed the distinct horse smell that Miles had mentioned. It wasn’t bad, just unfamiliar. The stable had a high ceiling with windows at the top that let in a lot of light. The horses lived inside spacious wooden stalls that were outfitted with green metal bars, through which the horses could see each other. Most of them were curiously sticking their heads through the large window-like gap between the metal bars into the stable aisle. Blaine felt intimidated by their huge heads.

Sally was already there. Still overly excited about Blaine’s visit, she took his hand and dragged him to the stall of a chestnut-colored horse with a white blaze on its forehead. 

“This is Pepper. I’m gonna get him ready for your ride.”

Sally put a halter on Pepper, led him out of the box and down the stable aisle to a grooming stall, where she tied the lead rope to a metal ring in the wall. Blaine followed them hesitantly, staring at the horse in horror. Pepper was a giant, even taller than Onyx. He couldn’t believe that he was supposed to ride this monster. Unfortunately, Sebastian was nowhere to be seen.

“Uhm, Sally, where did Sebastian go? I don’t think this is the right horse.”

“Bash is getting Nicky ready in the other stable. Pepper is the right horse. We picked him out for you together. He’s very good-tempered.” She smiled and handed Blaine a carrot. “Here, you should give this to him. He’ll love you immediately. No worries, he won’t bite, but you should watch your fingers.”

As Sally started to groom Pepper, Blaine looked at the carrot in his hand. A wave of self-pity washed over him. He looked at the giant horse again and begrudgingly walked towards its large head. Pepper’s eyes looked peaceful and gentle, but like everything else about the horse, they were huge. 

When Pepper smelled the carrot in Blaine’s hand, he pricked up his ears and turned his head. Blaine held the carrot out to the horse and one second later it was gone. He pulled back his hand and watched the animal munch the vegetable, relishing it.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? You can pet his neck and head a little, so he gets to know you better. You can also talk to him,” Sally said encouragingly.

Slowly, Blaine approached the horse and carefully touched the long neck. “Hey buddy,” he said in a low voice. Pepper’s fur was soft and silky. The horse turned its head and looked at Blaine, probably hoping for another carrot. Blaine gathered the courage to touch Pepper’s forehead and ran his hand down the white blaze and over the horse’s nostrils, where the skin was especially smooth. It felt great.

“Wow, this guy really seems to be nice,” Blaine said with a smile.

“Look, you can scratch his forehead like this,” Sally said, stepped up to Blaine and showed him how to circle his fingers on the horse’s forehead. When Blaine took over, Pepper lowered his head and closed his eyes. The scratching had a soothing effect on the animal. It closed its eyes and seemed to be falling asleep.

“He really likes this,” Blaine said in amazement. 

“Did you know that Bash likes it when you do this to his back?” 

“Uh, no, I didn’t,” Blaine admitted and watched Sally for a moment. It was hard to believe that this girl knew Sebastian better than he did.

“You should try it sometime, he’ll purr like a kitten,” she said, giggling. 

Sally disappeared briefly into the tack room and returned with a saddle and bridle for Pepper. Blaine felt incredibly useless because he didn’t know how to do anything around Pepper, except making him almost fall asleep by scratching his forehead.

As she heaved the saddle onto the horse, Sally gave Blaine a curious look. “Do you want to marry Bash someday?” Apparently, last night’s dinner conversation was still on her mind. 

Blaine felt himself blush. “Uhm... I don’t know... Maybe. I mean, I would like to get married someday, but Sebastian and I haven’t been together for so long and we’re very young. It’s something to worry about in ten years or so.”

“I see,” Sally replied with a thoughtful expression on her face. “I wanna get married, too. But Bash told me that it shouldn’t be my main goal in life because that wouldn’t be femist.”

Blaine chuckled. “Do you mean feminist?” 

“Oh, yes, that’s what I meant,” Sally said with another giggle.

“Well, he’s right about that,” Blaine replied, smiling. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. “Uhm... I actually wanted to ask you something, too. Do you remember the time when Seb was in Paris?”

“Yeah, we visited him there. We went up the Eiffel Tower. It was awesome,” Sally said cheerfully.

“Wow, that sounds awesome. I’ve never been.” 

Blaine pondered how much he could ask Sally about Sebastian without being a jerk. Sebastian would probably tell him more about Paris, too, if he asked him, but talking to Sally was just as exciting as talking to Trish at the campus café. These girls had a whole different perspective on Sebastian and Blaine wanted just a glimpse of it. 

“Do you think Sebastian liked living in Paris? He didn’t sound so excited when I asked him about it.”

Sally’s face turned thoughtful. “Mmm... I always thought so, but now that you mention it, I remember he was sad because of a boy.”

“A boy?” Blaine was all ears, still rubbing Pepper’s forehead. “Do you know which boy?”

“Some French boy he met at school there.”

Blaine watched Sally tighten the saddle girth and stepped back, so she could put the bridle on Pepper’s head, but his mind was elsewhere. According to Trish, Sebastian had been burned by a guy, implying that he must have liked one at some point. Sebastian, on the other hand, always acted as if he’d never even come close to being in love before. Not that it mattered, but Blaine just wanted to know everything about him. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Sally said, took Pepper’s reins and led him outside, Blaine following behind.

Sebastian was already waiting for them with Onyx in front of the stable. He was wearing a riding helmet and handed Blaine one as well. “I guarantee you that you won’t fall, but you should still wear this. It’s why I said you shouldn’t gel today. I’m even wearing one in solidarity.”

Reluctantly, Blaine put on the helmet and looked at Pepper, who seemed to be very sleepy. He still wasn’t convinced that the ride was a good idea, but only seconds later, Sebastian had helped him onto the giant horse and he was clinging to the strap at the front of the saddle. Sebastian got on Onyx and took the lead rope that was attached to Pepper’s bridle.

“See, I got Pepper on the leash. He can’t get away from me,” Sebastian said. “You should hold the reins, but leave some slack. If you pull them, you could hurt his mouth. Just hold on to the saddle or the mane and you’ll be fine.”

They left the ranch and it took Blaine a while to get used to Pepper. The ground was even further away than the day before because Pepper was taller than Onyx and his movements were different, but he seemed just as calm as he had been in the stable. At the beginning, Blaine’s eyes were fixated on the chestnut-colored neck and ears in front of him in distrust, but after a while he relaxed and dared to enjoy the view over the extensive fields. Dexter was running ahead of them. 

The weather was cold but sunny and the sky was a vast blue vault. They passed the golf courses, several ponds and groves of oaks and birches. The trees still had some yellow and orange leaves. Blaine knew Lima’s surroundings from driving by in a car and he had always thought that the landscape was boring, especially in November. But from the back of a horse, the wind blowing in his face, everything looked nicer somehow. 

“This must be awesome in the summer,” he commented as they approached a small river. 

“Definitely. Which means that we’ll have to do this again. Man, I wish we could gallop down that path together. It’s my favorite racing track.” Sebastian pointed at a path across the river.

Blaine gave him an astonished look. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather not do that. And I don’t think that’s ever gonna happen. You said it takes years to learn how to ride. I’ll never learn it. I feel much more comfortable on skates. By the way, ice-skating is an activity I’m probably better at than you.”

“Challenge accepted,” Sebastian replied with a wink. “It’s okay, you don’t have to learn how to ride horses, hon. If I hadn’t been born into this family, I would’ve never picked up this hobby.”

“But it’s kinda cool that you can do it. All this... it looks like you’re living the dream. I don’t even get why you left this place for Dalton. Your parents are amazing, you like your sister, you have a dog, a horse...”

Sebastian laughed. “I don’t know if my parents deserve to be called amazing, considering that they’re barely around. It was okay for me, but sometimes I worry about Sally. I feel like she had to grow up too fast. She’s incredibly independent for her age, handling horses on her own and taking care of Dexter, for example. But sometimes, she’s just so overly childish. As if she was fighting for attention.”

Blaine didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t help but think that what Sebastian had said about Sally was also true for him. On the one hand, Sebastian was independent and responsible, or, as Trish had put it, mature for his age. On the other hand, he had a reckless side, pursuing fun and pleasure no matter the cost. His father was a DA. Was it really a coincidence that Sebastian loved breaking the law, or was that his call for attention?

“But I think it’s pretty obvious that your parents love you two a lot,” Blaine said. “I mean, it sucks that they’re so busy, but isn’t it awesome to have so much freedom? I missed out on quite a few things because my parents didn’t give me permission. You got to go to Paris. Your mom lets us stay at the hotel together. In the suite. That’s crazy! My parents would never allow that.”

“That’s because she doesn’t care what I do.” Sebastian sounded bitter. “But yeah, it is awesome. I can’t complain. Anyway, babe,” he said in a more cheerful tone, “last time I went to Beaverton, Trish took me to the gym there and she said nobody would notice if we used it. They even have punching bags. Fight Club isn’t doing it for me, I need more practice.”

“Sounds good. I’ve been thinking about picking up boxing for a while. Are you still planning on beating Hunter in Fight Club?”

“Absolutely. You can tell he’s scared of me. He has fought almost everyone else, but he hasn’t challenged me.”

“Me neither,” Blaine chuckled.

Sebastian gave him a broad grin. “I know you don’t want me to protect you, but Hunter knows that he’s a dead man if he lays a finger on you. I didn’t threaten him, he just knows it. Because he knows me. Ugh, how did we end up talking about _him_? This is _our_ weekend.”

Sebastian’s words made Blaine smile. Once again, he thought about how perfect his boyfriend was. He felt like kissing Sebastian, but he didn’t dare lean that far out of the saddle. He couldn’t risk breaking his bones. For Wes’s sake.

Back at the ranch, Sally helped them take Onyx and Pepper to a vast pasture. Pepper immediately lowered his head and started to munch the grass while Onyx seized the opportunity to finally run free again. Blaine was glad that he didn’t miss the affectionate smile on Sebastian’s lips as he watched his horse storm away from them, bucking like a maniac.

* * *

In the afternoon, Miles convinced Blaine and Sebastian to play a round of golf together. Blaine didn’t have much experience, but he knew that he would be better at playing golf than at riding horses. It turned out that he was even better than Sebastian, who didn’t seem to like the sport at all.

Miles and Sebastian were teasing each other the whole time, but Blaine could tell that they were both having fun with each other. He even felt a little envious of their good relationship. He’d never had that with his dad. If barely seeing your father was the price for a relationship like this one, he would have been willing to pay it, but it was too late for that anyways.

Somehow, Blaine won the game. He suspected Miles had let him win on purpose, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to enjoy the time he got to spend with the Smythes. They had dinner with Nancy, Miles, Sally and Dexter again and it was even more fun than the day before. 

Later that night, the boys took a shower at the hotel. Afterwards, Sebastian turned on the TV and switched to a music channel. Blaine sat down on the bed, a towel wrapped around his waist. He watched Sebastian dry himself off and, for a brief moment, he just enjoyed how profoundly happy he was feeling. The weekend had been perfect so far. Sebastian hadn’t promised too much. 

“Seb, come here,” he said softly with a smile on his face.

Sebastian dropped his towel on the ground and climbed onto the bed. 

“Lie down on your stomach,” Blaine said and sat down next to Sebastian. Then he started to scratch Sebastian’s back, just as he had Pepper’s forehead.

Surprised, Sebastian let out a moan. “Oh babe, that’s awesome, oh my god... How do you know I...?”

“Sally told me,” Blaine replied, drawing large circles on Sebastian’s back with the tips of his fingers. “I’d like to thank you for this amazing weekend. It’s perfect.”

Sebastian’s head was resting on his folded arms, his eyes closed. He was thoroughly enjoying what Blaine was doing to him. “Anything for you, babe... Oh fuck, this is so good,” he purred.

After a few minutes, Blaine’s fingernails had left red streaks on Sebastian’s back, so he stopped scratching and Sebastian opened his eyes. He turned onto his side and grinned at Blaine.

“Time to return the favor. Are you ready to try something new?”

Blaine tensed in anticipation. “You mean... Yeah, I think I’m ready.”

Sebastian hopped off the bed, picked up his towel and pulled a bottle of lube and a small object out of his bag. “Here’s your new friend.”

“What’s that? Is that... a butt plug?”

“Oh yes. A rather small one. It probably won’t stimulate your prostate, but it’s great for stretching your muscle and for learning how to relax. I got another one for you that’s bigger, but we gotta start small. We don’t wanna hurt that precious hole.” Sebastian lay down next to Blaine again. “So you’ve never tried to stick anything in there?”

“I haven’t,” Blaine replied in a low voice, getting slightly nervous.

“You gotta be the least curious gay ever. Even straight people do that. You’re such a prude, Anderson.”

“I’m not!” Blaine protested. “So far, I’ve just been happy with what I can do with my dick.”

“Which means you could still turn out to be a total bottom.”

Blaine burst into a short laugh. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? But I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I like what we’ve been doing so far way too much.”

“Yeah, and you’re also damn good at it. But let’s just try this.”

Sebastian leaned in to kiss Blaine and pushed him back onto the bed. With one hand, Sebastian tore the towel off Blaine’s hips. Blaine’s cock had already stiffened a bit and Sebastian rubbed it until it was completely hard. 

Blaine’s heart was already beating faster. He watched Sebastian climb between his legs and dive down to kiss his inner thighs, slowly closing in on his balls and the sensitive spot below them. The feeling of Sebastian’s lips and tongue on his skin was incredible and it got even better the further down Sebastian moved.

When Sebastian circled his tongue around Blaine’s entrance, he let his head fall back into the pillow and moaned almost soundlessly. Sebastian grabbed Blaine’s thighs as he licked over the hole and playfully poked his tongue against it.

Sebastian’s tongue felt warm, slick and soft. It felt strong, too, as it suddenly pushed inside Blaine. His body tensed. Whatever Sebastian was doing, sucking, licking, poking, all of it felt great. But the natural reaction of Blaine’s body was to clench shut, protecting him from the attempted intrusion. He lifted his head slightly and met Sebastian’s eyes. 

“Relax, love,” Sebastian said, smiling, and Blaine felt himself blushing. 

_Love_. Sebastian had never called him that before. Blaine was feeling pleasantly warm all of a sudden. He sank his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, trying to relax his lower body.

Sebastian continued to caress Blaine’s hole and soon he was able to push the tip of his tongue inside it again. Now that Blaine was able to relax a little, the slight stretch felt good. And it was such a turn-on. It just felt so incredibly hot.

After a while, Sebastian sat up again, took the bottle of lube and applied some to his fingers. Blaine watched him in anticipation. Sebastian was still kneeling between Blaine’s legs, his eyes fixated on Blaine’s. “Next step. It won’t hurt at all if you relax.”

Blaine felt Sebastian’s index finger closing in on his hole. Compared to Sebastian’s tongue, the lube was uncomfortably cold at first, but Blaine didn’t even feel the cold anymore when Sebastian gently poked against his entrance. He focused on staying relaxed.

Sebastian’s index finger slowly pushed inside him. Again, Blaine’s body tried to fight the intruder, but he managed to relax his muscle just enough for Sebastian to enter. Blaine could feel Sebastian’s finger inside him. The feeling was peculiar but surprisingly pleasant.

“Are you okay, babe?” Sebastian asked softly.

When Blaine nodded, Sebastian started to slowly move his finger in and out. Blaine could also feel it move around inside. Suddenly, a weird feeling hit him and his whole body flinched. He looked down at Sebastian, who was grinning.

“I think I found your prostate. Here?” he asked and hit the spot again. 

The pressure felt slightly uncomfortable at first, but there was something like pleasure mixed in. Blaine involuntarily moaned again.

“Yeah, that’s the spot. But I’ll leave it in peace for now,” Sebastian said and pulled his finger out of Blaine. “Do you want more?”

Getting rid of the intruder felt good for a moment, but Blaine quickly realized that he wanted more. The mere thought of being penetrated turned him on. “Yes,” he whispered.

With a smile on his face, Sebastian grabbed the butt plug and applied a generous amount of lube to it. Then he started to push the tip of the sex toy against Blaine’s entrance. The tip went in right away, but the thickest part of the object was more than twice as thick as Sebastian’s index finger. Blaine felt his body resist as Sebastian pushed slowly but consistently. Blaine tried to focus on relaxing his sphincter, but it started to hurt a little. 

“It’s almost there, hon. Relax,” Sebastian said and, all of a sudden, the plug slid fully inside.

Blaine closed his eyes again. He was still feeling a tiny bit of pain, but overall, he felt amazing. He felt the base of the plug press against his hole from outside. The slight stretch was pleasant and so was the feeling of being filled up, even though the plug really wasn’t very big.

Sebastian wiped his fingers on the towel and lay down next to Blaine. “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good,” Blaine said, smiling.

“Alright, you should practice with this one for now. I also got a bigger one for you, which is still not as big as my dick, but it’s good enough for some prepping.” 

Blaine gave Sebastian a curious look. “How long does it take until I can take your dick?”

“I don’t know. That depends on how much you practice. Could be two days, could be a week or two. It’s just very important to me that I don’t hurt you. I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t rush the first time. But believe me, waiting is hard for me. I’d rather fuck you right now because I’m insanely turned on.”

Sebastian spread a good amount of lube on Blaine’s cock, climbed on top of him and prepared himself briefly. “Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, it doesn’t take much effort anymore.” 

He grabbed Blaine’s cock and directed the tip to his hole. Then he sat down slowly, taking it up his ass bit by bit. 

Initially, Sebastian’s tightness and heat around Blaine felt as great as it always did, but when Sebastian started to move his hips up and down, forward and back, Blaine thought he couldn’t feel any better. Feeling the plug slightly stretching his hole was intensely exciting. It added to his pleasure and so was seeing Sebastian’s beautiful body on top of him. Sebastian’s cock was bouncing up and down as he was riding Blaine faster and faster, and his face was mirroring the pleasure that Blaine’s dick was giving him.

All of that made Blaine come close to climaxing a little sooner than usual. He felt a strong urge to push his pelvis up and gave in to it, thrusting into Sebastian from below. The sheet underneath him was getting damp with sweat. And then he came inside Sebastian and a jolt of pleasure, like electricity, coursed through his entire body.

Even after that, Sebastian kept riding him. At first, it still felt great, but very soon, it was too much. Blaine’s dick felt way too sensitive. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to endure the overstimulation, but then Sebastian finally reached his orgasm as well and streaks of warm cum spurted on Blaine’s belly. 

Panting, Sebastian lifted his hips so that Blaine’s cock slowly slipped out of his ass and he leaned forward to rest his body on top of Blaine’s, kissing his neck. Blaine loved the feeling of Sebastian’s weight pinning him down to the bed.

“Fuck, that was good,” Sebastian purred against Blaine’s neck.

Blaine laid his arms around Sebastian. “I love you,” he said softly.

Sebastian lifted his head to look at Blaine. “Are we gonna say this to each other every day from now on?”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind. I just love you,” Blaine said, smiling.

“I love you, too, babe,” Sebastian said and gently kissed Blaine’s collarbone. “How’s your butt?”

“I think it’s fine. This thing really is a turn-on.”

Sebastian grinned. “So you like having things in your ass. That’s a relief because I’m actually more of a vers top.”

“What if I’m a vers top, too?” Blaine asked with a chuckle.

“Then we gotta open up our relationship and invite bottoms to our bedroom. Aiden or Jeremiah, for example.”

Blaine stared at Sebastian in horror. “What?! I... No! I don’t think I would be okay with that! And how do you know Aiden and Jeremiah are bottoms? Did you...?”

Sebastian rolled off Blaine and lay down next to him, laughing. “Calm down, B. I was kidding. I’d bottom for you for the rest of my life as long as I get to bone you occasionally. And no, I did not fuck them. I’m very well capable of distinguishing between friends and fuck buddies. I’m just making baseless assumptions. Maybe I’m wrong. Well, I’m pretty sure about Jay, but Aiden could be a blouse.”

“A what?”

“A fem top. Gosh, you really gotta work on your gay slang.”

Blaine sighed and closed his eyes, relieved but still mildly shocked. “Sometimes you’re just... ugh.”

“Just the right amount of shallow and mean? I know,” Sebastian said, grinning, and cuddled up to Blaine. “I wouldn’t share you with anyone, you know that.”

Blaine turned towards Sebastian and smiled at him. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I guess I’m... just the right amount of touchy and jealous.”

“Exactly, hon. I think I need another shower. Are you coming?”

“As if there was any need to ask me that. By the way, how do I get this thing out of my butt?”

Sebastian let out a short laugh. “You’ll figure it out.” He jumped off the bed and vanished into the bathroom.

“Unbelievable,” Blaine mumbled with a smile on his lips and followed Sebastian.


End file.
